Nabeel Zafar, who plays one of the leads on ARY Digital’s hit sitcom Bulbulay, has apologised for ‘offensive’ comments against Pashtuns on the show.
In a video message, Nabeel apologises for hurting Pashtun sentiments and says that their intention was never to hurt anyone.
“I came across some comments on Twitter today that we might have hurt the sentiments of our viewers through a scene of the show,” says Nabeel in the video. “We would never target a particular ethnicity. That was never our intention. Our audience ranges from a four-year-old to an eight-year-old. We receive massive viewership from the KP region.”
He then goes on to explain the characters and says that the team of the shows aim to entertain the masses and make them laugh.
“There are several characters on the show. We never meant to disrespect anyone. Our only intention was to make our audience happy,” he says further.
Nabeel’s video was retweeted by the official handle of ARY Digital as well as ARY CEO Salman Iqbal.
In a clip being circulated on social media, Mehmood Sahab (Mehmood Aslam) is seen talking to a Pathan man Sher Khan over the phone. When Khan says that he would like to come to their house and give them a gift, Nabeel jokes that the only gift he will give is either naswar or a bomb. Nabeel’s comments sparked outrage for stereotyping Pashtuns and the hashtag #BoycottARYDigital began to trend on social media.
