{"id":29845,"date":"2023-11-30T02:58:13","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T02:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/waqar-zaka-disputes-career-sabotage-accusations-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-11-30T02:58:13","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T02:58:13","slug":"waqar-zaka-disputes-career-sabotage-accusations-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/waqar-zaka-disputes-career-sabotage-accusations-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Waqar Zaka disputes career sabotage accusations | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former host, Waqar Zaka posted a scathing video message on his official Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) accounts, addressing the accusations levelled against him by Good Morning Pakistan<\/em> host Nida Yasir of attempting to sabotage the latter\u2019s position as host.<\/p>\n

The long counterblast began with Waqar explaining his late reply, owing to his busy study schedule at Stanford University in US California before announcing that the video is not intended as a justification. \u201cI am not offering an explanation or clarification; I am once and for all clapping back at critics by divulging the full account,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

Recently, Nida appeared at Hasna Mana Hai<\/em><\/a> with Tabish Hashmi where she alleged, \u201cWaqar Zaka tried very hard to get me replaced. He ran a long campaign to sabotage my position.\u201d The veteran host also expressed her confusion about the entrepreneur-host\u2019s animosity towards her and maintained that the hostility began when he left the channel. She shared how Waqar kept sending emails to the channel\u2019s management to get her removed from the show.<\/p>\n

According to Waqar, the contentions began in 2020 when Nida made a series of episodes that drew her flak. One mistake in particular culminated in Waqar\u2019s opposition against Nida. He recalled, \u201cThere was a child abuse case in Karachi and she invited the parents to her morning show. These morning shows have a norm of making people cry for ratings. To make the parents cry, she [Nida] asked them such inappropriate questions that they genuinely burst into tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

The incident in question featured a minor victim of sexual abuse, Marwah, a case that steadily garnered media attention. However, the morning show host ignited a wave of outrage with her insensitive line of questioning that made the parents visibly upset. Internet users circulated a hashtag on X demanding a complete ban on Nida with others urging people to report her to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).<\/p>\n

Criticising her conduct with the grieving parents, he relayed, \u201cAfter a lot of trolling, she lied and said her team didn\u2019t approach Marwah, instead the family sought her to amplify their injustice.\u201d The internet personality linked up videos of an activist from 2020 who exclusively interviewed Marwah\u2019s family to interrogate Nida\u2019s claims with the family denying ever contacting the channel.<\/p>\n

Waqar invoked the wide outcry across social media as his motivation to contact the private news channel\u2019s management to replace Nida. He shared how people asked him to leverage his good relations with the channel to demand swift action against her following the backlash.<\/p>\n

Adding a 2020 video of his from that time, Waqar asserted that he actively discouraged people from hurling abuses at Nida, saying, \u201cIf you have a problem in society, please approach it with due legal procedure. Contact PEMRA and ask them to ban Nida Yasir\u2019s morning show\u2026Abusing and trolling Nida Yasir online is not the way of a respectable culture. Her children are watching, her husband is watching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waqar further criticised her for holding onto her position as the morning show host for this long instead of finding a better replacement. \u201cIt\u2019s not like she\u2019s Oprah or a follower of Noam Chomsky or any other follower. Does she have any theory in her life? In her place, you can have Sidra Iqbal as a host. If not her, then there are so many women you can give a chance to,\u201d he contended.<\/p>\n

Referring to his own departure from the private news channel, he stated how the channel’s top management can confirm that he left in 2014 of his own volition, following the success of his show Living On The Edge<\/em>, at its peak rather than once it had gotten stale. As per Waqar, a TV host should move on after establishing something and explore other avenues.<\/p>\n

He cited himself as an example from when he quit Living On The Edge<\/em> and disclosed his reception to passing on the host\u2019s mantle. \u201cWhen the show returned later, I stated clearly that don\u2019t give this position to me, give it to Aamir Liaquat instead,\u201d he revealed, emphasising why other people must be given the chance so as to keep the content from growing stale.<\/p>\n

The internet personality\u2019s concluding advice to Nida was to groom herself if she is adamant about staying as the host. Waqar also announced his intention to launch a political organisation by 2027-28 under the name Technology Movement Pakistan, rejecting the narrative that he \u2018left\u2019 Pakistan. \u201cOnce my classes [at Stanford] end in March, I\u2019ll return to Pakistan,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n