Fazila Qazi, a famous television actress, recently confronted the President of Arts Council, Ahmed Shah, in a video circulating on social media.
She questioned the grant given by the government to the Arts Council Karachi, which she claims should be allocated to Karachi’s artists and institutions, rather than those in other cities.
She accused Ahmed Shah of taking his entourage around the country, using the grant money to create “masti” (fun), and claimed that if the promotion of Sindh’s culture was truly the objective, then artists from Sindh should have been taken along to Lahore, where the art scene is much better.
She said that there are arts councils in all major cities of Pakistan that are doing excellent work and that Karachi’s Arts Council does not require their services.
14th International ‘Urdu Conference’ will be held from 9 to 12 December in Karachi
Fazila Qazi further stated that Ahmed Shah is using the grant from the Sindh government, which amounts to millions of rupees, for his personal benefit and that he and his group are involved in looting under the guise of a group of like-minded people.
renowned actress accused the President of Arts Council of creating bogus members through which they claim grants from the Sindh government, and that the Minister of Culture, Sardar Shah, is aware of all this but remains silent.
She also alleges that the president of the Arts Council and his associates have been using the grant to travel around the country, eating and enjoying themselves at the expense of taxpayers.
Fazila Qazi demanded that the government investigate the use of these grants, take strict action against those who have been looting the public’s money, and that the Sindh government should spend money to promote Sindh’s arts and culture, not for the personal benefit of the Arts Council’s officials.