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Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb has urged the FIA to initiate legal action against those involved in the “character assassination” of Pakistani actors on social media.

According to APP, Aurangzeb condemned the “campaign” in a statement on Wednesday and said, “The entire society must condemn those who are promoting the culture of such malicious campaigns aimed at character assassination and spreading insolence and incivility.”

Her statement comes two days after Kubra Khan threatened to sue YouTuber Adil Raja for defamation after a video he posted. According to the news agency, Aurangzeb said artists are not only an asset of the country but its identity at an international level due to the status they have earned in society through their hard work and stardom.

She regretted the “character assassination” of women who achieve a status in life, be it journalism, politics, art or any other field. The minister slammed those who only care about the honour of their own mothers and sisters but not of other women.

“The way some persons abused others for a difference of opinion, launched vile attack on women and involved in disrespecting and harassing others’ mothers and sisters, showed how they themselves have been brought up,” she said.

What happened

On Monday, London Nahi Jaunga actor Khan threatened to sue YouTuber Adil Raja for defamation after a video in which he said that four “top models and actresses” had illicit relationships with former top generals.

“I stayed quiet initially because obviously a fake video isn’t going to take over my existence but ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Do you think random people can point fingers at me and I’ll sit quietly and take it?” she wrote on Instagram and Twitter on Monday.

“So Mr Adil Raja before you start to heap allegations upon people have some proof first. You have a total of three days to come up with this proof which you claim is haq and sach. If not, either retract your statement and publicly apologise or I will be suing you for defamation. And don’t worry, lucky for you I’m not just from here, I am from UK so I’ll come there if I have to! Cause the truth is with me, rights are with me and I don’t fear anyone or their fathers,” Khan said.

Raja, who describes himself on Twitter as a geopolitical analyst and rights activist, released a video on December 31 in which he made several sweeping statements against the former top leadership of the army. One allegation was that four “top models and actresses” would fraternise with the former officials as well as with politicians. He was unable to substantiate his claims with proof other than claiming it was revealed to him by “sources”.

He also mentioned the initials of the four women he was making the claims about — MK, MH, SA and KK or AK. The confusion in the last set of initials was compounded when he claimed to have said AK after Khan’s tweet.

Amid widespread speculation on social media of who the actors he mentioned could be, given the initials, Hayat and Sajal Aly also posted messages slamming “baseless insinuations” and “character assassination”.

Several other members of the entertainment fraternity have called out the YouTuber for his video and expressed their support for women actors.