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Actor Navin Waqar called for more religious representation on Pakistani TV screens as she plays the role of a Hindu woman in in Case No. 9.

Speaking on Gup Shup with Fuchsia, hosted by Rabia Mughni, Waqar opened up about portraying a her character in the Geo Entertainment show — a choice she says felt both necessary and overdue. In the drama, Waqar plays Manisha, the wife of Rohit, a Hindu man caught in a moral conundrum during a high-stakes rape trial.

“I think inclusivity matters,” Waqar said. “It’s so important to show ke ye bhi hamari society ka hissa hain aur ye bhi waise hi rehte hain jaise hum rehte hain (that they’re also part of our society and live just like we do).”

Written by Shahzeb Khanzada, Case No. 9 follows the harrowing journey of a rape survivor, played by Saba Qamar, as she seeks justice within a deeply flawed system. Faysal Quraishi stars as Kamran — the rapist — while Aamina Sheikh plays Qamar’s lawyer. The drama has earned praise for its stellar script and fearless portrayal of issues faced by rape survivors in the pursuit of justice in Pakistan.

Within this tense narrative, Waqar’s character Manisha emerges as a moral anchor. While her husband, being the only eyewitness to the case, struggles between loyalty to his friend Kamran — who saved his life when he was falsely accused of blasphemy in college — and the truth. Manisha, on the other hand, stands firmly with the survivor, refusing to compromise, no matter the cost.

During the interview, the Annie Ki Ayegi Baraat star, highlighted how the drama addresses another uncomfortable but pervasive reality: false blasphemy accusations.

“This is very common,” she said. “Not that I am saying that all these accusations are either right or wrong, but the point is that it is important to show it because this is something that happens.

“This is a part of our society, this is the part of our world, you know,” she added.

For Waqar, the role mattered because it normalised something Pakistani screens still struggle with: showing religious minorities simply existing, without caricatures or spectacles. It was important for her to get our audiences comfortable with the idea. Yet that act of normalisation sparked questions. The actor revealed that she received DMs asking why she even felt the need to play a Hindu character, and, more oddly, why her character wasn’t wearing sindoor.

Waqar responded by saying the couple was not meant to be shown as a stereotypical Hindu couple. “I was thinking, every Hindu family that I have met in Pakistan, that’s not what they do,” she explained. “They apply the sindoor or follow these customs during their festivals, or at their houses, but don’t do it when they step out of the house.“

Despite initial apprehensions about offending people, Waqar says the response, especially from Hindu viewers, was overwhelmingly positive. What moved her most was how audiences eventually stopped seeing Manisha through the lens of religion altogether.

“At one point, they forgot who Manisha kon hai was,” she said. “They were just like ‘she is doing the right thing’, and that made me happy that those things are secondary now, you are looking at her as a person, as a good person, and that is what matters,” she explained.

Waqar was last seen on our screens in HUM TV drama serial, Daagh E Dil, a drama about family, revenge and karma where she played Almaas, a “calculating, strong-headed and a force to be reckoned with”.