Two years ago, Mosharraf Karim hosted a TV show for the first time in his career. The thirteen-episode program titled Jago Bangladesh was inspired by US based show TEDX and Aamir Khan's Satyamev Jayate.
Airing on Channel 24, each episode dealt with social issues that continue to plague Bangladesh - child marriage, autism, traffic jam, women’s menstruation issues, abuse of the third sex, environmental pollution and so on.
In one of the episodes, the actor took a stance which aligns with the ongoing anti-rape protests across the country. He said, “Why can’t a woman wear what she wants? And if the attire is a problem, then what is the reason behind the rape of a seven year old or a woman wearing a burqa? What is the logic behind that? Is there any logic?”
When a girl pointed out to Mosharraf that she was sexually harassed for the way she dressed, the actor said, "This is a case of a person unable to fight his own urges and blaming your dress instead.”
Also read - Ananta Jalil retracts victim-blaming statement after public outrage
As soon as the episode aired in 2018, he was criticized by a large number of netizens for 'hurting religious sentiments' through this statement. He was accused of insulting the veil, which is mandated through the Quran and asked to apologize before 'it is too late.'
In the face of widespread public outrage, the actor backtracked from his previous stance and took to Facebook shortly after.
He made an apology, writing, "A lot of you have been hurt by my remarks on a show I host on Channel 24. I deeply apologize for that. Maybe what I wanted to say was not clear to all. I believe in the decency of ones' attire and that is also important. But that was not mentioned there. I have no intention to hurt any religious sentiment. It was an unintentional mistake. I am very sorry. Everyone please do forgive me.”
While Annata Jalil has retracted his victim-blaming statements amid mounting public outrage, the opposite happened to Mosharraf Karim only two years ago.