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Subhash K Jha (DNA; November 27, 2014)

Controversy’s favourite child Veena Malik and her husband Asad Bashir Khan have been sentenced to 26 years in prison by Pakistani court for alleged profanity.

Veena speaking from her home in Dubai calls the sentence shocking. “I didn’t know this was coming. I knew there was a blasphemy case for some time now. But my husband and I had done no wrong. So, I was never troubled by the charges.”

Reliving the episode that has landed her in this serious trouble Veena says, “My husband and I had been invited on a show on GEO TV. Mind you, we were just guests on the show where the religious qawwall was being played. We showed no disrespect to the qawwali.”

Veena says she and her husband did not dance to the holy qawwali. “The honourable court says there is a close-up of me during the holy qawwali. Shooting close-ups of artistes during television shows is the cameraman’s concern. How am I or my husband to blame for this?”

Veena sees the harsh punishment as a reaction to the backlash aganst GEO television. “There has been a lot of campaign to bring them down. My husband and I are caught in the crossfire of a media war. To accuse us of profanity is unjust.”

Now, Veena will be going to Pakistan to fight it out. “We are going to file an appeal in Pakistan’s High Court.”