Zara Shahjahan has made a name for herself. Her brand, ‘Zara Shahjahan’, has risen to the top of the list when one thinks of luxury design and pret in Pakistan. The brand is definitely ‘high end’ and exists in a price bracket that most people in the country cannot afford. They appeal to a niche audience and well, whatever you think, there is truly no harm in doing so.
Zara Shahjahan is a recognized name, which means she is now a recognized name on social media too. The designer has a twitter account that has recently been getting a lot of hate for a tweet she posted last week.
She was starting a thread on Twitter called ‘#LetsBeHonest’ and her first tweet was..interesting.
So I’m starting a thread, you have to start your tweet with let’s be honest. #letsbehonest life in Pakistan is hard for the rich so imagine the poor.
— zara shahjahan (@ZaraShahjahan) June 19, 2019
As expected, Pakistani Twitter did not let this go.
https://twitter.com/DrAbtToApoptose/status/1144195554966159360
The jokes were endless.
https://twitter.com/Fallibilist1/status/1144186706180096000
Uff ye mehngai!
Also the Toyota v8 land cruiser jumped from 3 crore to 4 crore rupees .. imagine how hard it is to live in pakistan now
— AkbaR (@Aakbar84) June 27, 2019
Matlab, how are we expected to have breakfast without Nutella *faints*
What about Nutella? Do anyone even care about us? Life is soooo hard without it
— Ali Raza (@aliraza_ca) June 27, 2019
Well, they are ‘Great People To Fly With’.
#letsbehonest ab emirates ki jaga PIA mai travel karna paray ga
— the99thZainabyouknow (@najeebz18) June 27, 2019
How are we meant to survive this heat?
Let's be honest – Inflation is hitting hard. We can no longer keep all 5 A.Cs in our home on simultaneously. Bill jo itna aaraha hai.
— Baji Please (@BajiPlease) June 27, 2019
The jokes were plentiful, and all equally as good as the last one.
#letsbehonest My maid can't afford this dress anymore. pic.twitter.com/IzyMz9lu1r
— Abu Jim Ghafir (@blokkedblok) June 27, 2019
People kept targetting ‘designer prices’ under this tweet.
https://twitter.com/aishsiraj/status/1144510166337040386
The struggle is REAL, you guys.
https://twitter.com/ShaanMahmood/status/1144196574832205824
*wipes tears with a PKR 10 ka note*
I'm sure all that privilege would be so damn hard to handle. I feel you! pic.twitter.com/uunsCYYccx
— Rehan (@Haraam_bae) June 27, 2019
Let’s not forget that this was a ‘thread’, so let’s take a look at her other tweets.
The question is, are you ready?
This one is relatively mild.
#letsbehonest kohli is king
— zara shahjahan (@ZaraShahjahan) June 19, 2019
Let’s turn up the notch on the controversial!
#letsbehonest Karachi food is so much better than Lahore’s, and I’m a Lahori.
— zara shahjahan (@ZaraShahjahan) June 19, 2019
Turns out she is a jiyala.
#letsbehonest Karachi is the dumps, what’s going on bilawal Bhutto ? I voted for you and I’m ashamed to see Karachi.
— zara shahjahan (@ZaraShahjahan) June 19, 2019
And lastly, she responded to her tweets and the hate they got.
She ‘apologized’.
God you guys are savage ! So embarrassed to be privileged! You guys are damn right that tweet was so“elite” #whilesittinginmyairconditionedroom
— zara shahjahan (@ZaraShahjahan) June 27, 2019
Yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion and entitled to share it, however, one should always be mindful of their privilege and their biases. This country already suffers from the gap between classes growing- the have and have nots are clearly defined. These times are particularly testing, especially for the have nots, and we all need to be a bit more empathetic about the issue- that’s how we can possibly move towards a solution.
Looking at things from an elite point of view will not solve things, in fact, it could be said that it is part of how we’ve gotten here.