Designer Maria Butt — known more popularly as Maria B — has submitted her defence to the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in a complaint made in August relating to the designer’s anti-transgender rhetoric on social media. The complaint was filed against her by Saima Butt for defaming the transgender community.
The designer had designated her lawyer to appear before the NCCIA on September 2. In the response submitted by Barrister Mian Ali Ashfaq on behalf of Maria B, a copy of which is available with Images, she claimed she was exercising her right to free speech and expression under Article 19 of the Constitution. The response states that the designer was expressing “reasonable opinions on matters of public concern” and that her post was made “within the ambit of lawful expression” and in “good faith and for the larger public good”.
The response argues that, because the people in the video the designer posted were hardly visible and wearing masks, her post can not be taken as defamation against any individual. The complaint, Maria B’s statement claimed, was made with “malicious intent” to harass her.
The Lahore police booked around 60 transgender persons and others in August and arrested some of them for allegedly organising an “objectionable” private party after Maria B uploaded photos and videos of it on her social media accounts. Later, a magistrate dismissed the case against the transgender persons after no incriminating material was found connecting them with the commission of the alleged offences.
She had posted videos on her social media accounts, demanding action against “transgender activists” that she claimed featured in the clips, terming such gatherings “against the moral values of the country”.
This is not the first time the designer has made anti-trans remarks on her social media accounts. Recently, she celebrated the banning of a screening of Joyland in Lahore, describing it as a “shameful transgender satanic show”. Joyland is a film and was Pakistan’s official Oscars submission for the year 2023.