Dawn Images

Ayeza Khan, one of the most followed Pakistani actors on Instagram, has apologised to her followers for not posting about the Gaza invasion and her previous comments about praying instead of posting. However, fans aren’t too pleased with her apology because it still doesn’t mention Gaza, Palestine or a condemnation of the ongoing violence.

On October 5, the actor shared a now-deleted post with an answer to why she had not been posting about the situation in Gaza. She said that while she felt the pain of the Palestinian people, she believed praying daily for them was much more effective than posting on social media.

She faced severe criticism from people who said that while praying is important, she should also use her platform to raise awareness.

Following the backlash, the Meray Paas Tum Ho actor shared a second post in which she said she would not attempt to explain or justify her previous post because her intentions were not malicious. She claimed to have failed to articulate those intentions well enough. Apologising for herself and on behalf of her team, she said that it would not happen again.

Khan said she empathises with the people’s pain but feels helpless and deeply saddened. She said that her awareness may not bring an immediate resolution and asked everyone to pray alongside posting call to action efforts.

However, her statement failed to make an impact with fans — many of whom called her out for still not using her platform to raise awareness.

Many also took issue with the fact that she didn’t mention Palestine or Gaza. Her statement also had no mention of the horrific human rights violations nor the over 10,000 Palestinians who had been killed.

In this social media age, the war online is as important as anything else. With so much misinformation and hatred being spread online, the burden of sharing accurate and responsible information is often on public figures with large platforms, like Khan.

Sharing posts about Palestine is more than just a perfunctory action on social media — it’s important because it helps spread the word and keep the ongoing violence in people’s minds. If people with large platforms and dedicated followings post about Palestine, it helps. Prayers are important but so is using your platform to do good.