Pakistani actor Saba Faisal has drawn criticism on social media following remarks about divorce during an appearance on Samaa TV’s talk show ‘Gup Shab’.
Faisal, who has appeared in several popular television dramas, discussed how attitudes towards divorce have changed over the years and compared the way families responded to separations in the past with present-day attitudes.
‘Things are deteriorating’
During the conversation, Faisal said that divorce was once treated as a major family event, claiming that relatives would observe a prolonged period of grief after a marriage ended.
“Previously, when there was a divorce in a family, people used to mourn for three months. There used to be a proper period of grief; fathers could not even face the world,” she said.
She then described what she viewed as a more casual attitude towards divorce today.
“But now, it has become a norm where you call a friend and ask how her husband is, and she says, ‘It’s been months since my divorce, and I came from abroad after getting my mind relaxed.’ So, it’s happening nowadays, and things are deteriorating,” Faisal said.
Her comments subsequently circulated on social media, prompting a range of reactions from users.
Social media users react
Several users criticised the actor’s remarks, with some arguing that changing attitudes towards divorce could also reflect people choosing to leave unhappy or difficult marriages.
Others accused Faisal of having a stereotypical view of divorce, while some users defended the right of people to end marriages that are no longer working.
Comments included calls to stop inviting her to television shows, while others questioned her interpretation of changing social attitudes towards divorce.
The remarks have sparked an online debate about how divorce is viewed in Pakistani society and whether changing attitudes represent a decline in family values or greater acceptance of personal choices.
Faisal has not, in the material cited, issued a separate response to the criticism.
