A Pakistani singer has accused the local wildlife protection agency of doing Indian PM Narendra Modi’s bidding after a video, that saw her posing with giant snakes and promising to set them at Modi, landed her in legal trouble.
Rabi Pirzada, a Pakistani pop singer and a TV host, faces a fine and up to two years in jail after a clip of her cuddling a giant snake while denouncing New Dehli for revoking the Kashmir autonomy has gained traction online.
In the video, originally posted on the singer’s YouTube channel on September 2, and later picked up by local TV, Pirzada goes on an angry tirade berating Modi for “harassing Kashmiris” and saying that her reptile friends are special “gifts” for the Indian PM.
“See what I have prepared for you. So get ready to die in hell. Okay? And these friends of mine will feast on you,” the singer says in a clip, before introducing her menacing-looking friends, including an alligator.
The video, that was allegedly filmed in the singer’s beauty salon in Lahore, capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province, has since racked up almost 100,000 views, making headlines in both Indian and Pakistani media.
However, it was not until this week that the Punjab Wildlife Protection and Parks Department has launched an inquiry into the starlet for keeping exotic animals, in Pirzada’s case – at least four pythons, an alligator and snakes – at her salon.
The Pakistani Wildlife Act explicitly prohibits turning such species into pets, Wildlife Protection official Sohail Ashraf said, as quoted by Pakistan’s The News International, adding that no permit exists that could be obtained to legalize their ownership. The official said that Pirzada is now looking at up to a two-year stint in jail for violating the law, adding that the legal proceedings were launched after she repeatedly flaunted exotic animals on social media and, in parituclar, after her now infamous clip was aired on TV.
However, the singer herself insists that it was her anti-Modi rant, and not her affection for large-size slithery creatures that had got her into trouble.