Local politician and PML(N) leader, Arbab Khizer Hayat has apologised for Gul Panra’s viral music video, shot at a state-owned residence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In a detailed clarification, Hayat said that he took Panra to the official residence as a family member where she recorded a Tik Tok dance video and aired it on social media, sparking controversy.
“On July 17, 2020, I went to District Landi Kotal to visit different historic sites in the area along with my family members,” said Hayat in his clarification statement. “Among the family members, I also had singer Gul Panra who joined us for the journey and we visited Michni Fort.”
He added that while visiting the area, he contacted Assistant Commissioner Khyber, Muhammad Imran and requested permission to have refreshments at his official residence. After refreshments, the family members began visiting the premises and inadvertently entered the residence from a back door, where the singer recorded a dance video, which later went viral.
Hayat said all that had happened without his knowledge and permission, so he sought apology from the quarters concerned for the singer’s mistake.
After the video went viral on social media, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan had ordered a probe into to the matter.
According to reports, the KP chief ordered an investigation into Panra’s video after it was reported that part of the TikTok video was shot at the Deputy Commissioner Khyber District’s bungalow in Landikotal. CM Khan also questioned who allowed the singer to enter the state-owned property. He asserted that action will be taken against those who allowed Panra access to the government building.
The committee formed to investigate the issue was led by the provincial home secretary and had been ordered to submit the report within 24 hours.
Earlier, the singer also shared pictures from her trip to Landikotal.
Panra shot to fame after she sang Man Aamadeh Am with Atif Aslam in Coke Studio Season 8. Some of her most popular Coke Studio songs include the rendition of Nazia Hasan’s Hawa Hawa and Rasha Mama.
VIDEO: ‘TikTok girl Hareem Shah spotted at PM Secretariat,’ claims journalist
This is not the first time a TikTok video has shown an internet celebrity walking around an official building. Prior to Panra, Pashtun singer Sofia Kaif was seen walking around what reports claim is the official residence of CM Mahmood Khan. Before Sofia, who had reportedly been invited as a singer to the ceremony at the CM House, Hareem Shah, had also been spotted walking around the Foreign Ministry’s office in a TikTok video.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has issued a “final warning to Tik Tok to put in place a comprehensive mechanism to control obscenity, vulgarity and immorality through its social media application.”
