Model Ayyan Ali has lashed out at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s social media activists for fat-shaming Foreign Minister and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
“PTI’s troll factory hit a new low last week when it criticised a national politician [Bilawal] for gaining weight. Fat-shaming is a hate crime in the civilised world,” the model-cum-singer said in a series of tweets on Sunday.
تحریک انصاف کے ٹرول فارم نے گزشتہ ہفتہ پستی کی نئی حدوں کو تب چھوا جب اس نے ایک قومی سیاستدان کے بڑھتے وزن پر پھبتیاں کسیں
مہذب دنیا میں Fat Shaming ایک Hate Crime ہے
سوچا آج آپ کو اس کے متعلق بتاوں اور
خود Cardiomyopathy سے جوجنے کے بعد اپنی Weight Struggle سے آگاہ کروں /1 pic.twitter.com/v43ym4Cadj— Ayyan (@AYYANWORLD) September 18, 2022
“Today, I want to tell you about my struggles with fatness after suffering from cardiomyopathy. When I was sent to a jail in a fake political case in 2015, I decided to always have a smiling face in front of people. No one could notice my struggles with depression, stress and anxiety at the time. These ailments, however, continued to grow in the next two years, with a new case being registered every week,” she added.
Ayyan said that she remained under stress all the time due to physical and mental torture in the prison, and character assassination on national television channels.
“It was not possible for me to consult a doctor in Pakistan under strict surveillance. So, I looked for cure for every disease in food and my weight increased to 90 kilograms. I also suffered a heart attack due to constant stress and increased weight, just a few months after arriving in Dubai. After leaving the hospital, I completed a difficult exercise programme and lost 40kg with the support of my friends and family. Alhamdulillah, I am healthy now,” she said.
Sharing her pictures and workout videos, the 29-year-old further said that people suffer from obesity due to some hidden mental and physical diseases, adding that such people should be helped in diagnosing those diseases and getting rid of fatness. “Maybe your courage would do wonders for them. It is immoral, inhumane and un-Islamic to make fun of people in their difficult time,” she concluded.
Ayyan was arrested on the charges of money laundering on March 14, 2015, after Airports Security Force (ASF) officials recovered over half a million dollars in cash from her baggage at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad. Later, her name was linked to senior politicians and it was alleged that she was a conduit for their money laundering operations.
In November, 2015, a special customs court in Rawalpindi indicted the model for attempting to smuggle more than $500,000 to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). She was, however, granted bail in July, 2015 after spending nearly four months in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.
