“FIERUPTS WHEREVER I AM”: OUTRAGE AS PAKISTANI TIKTOK STAR SHOOTS VIDEO NEXT TO FOREST FIRE

Wed 18 May 2022:

As a severe heatwave causes widespread agony in Pakistan, a Pakistani social media star with millions of followers is facing backlash after posing for a TikTok video by a forest fire.

“Fire erupts wherever I am,” Humaira Asghar captioned a video of herself strolling about in a silver ball gown in front of a burning hillside.

It comes after a man was caught earlier this month in Abbottabad, Pakistan, for deliberately igniting a forest fire as a backdrop for a video.

This Pakistani model and TikToker Dolly’s promotional videos for a clothing line were shot by setting a part of forest on fire. Seriously, what’s wrong with these people. pic.twitter.com/Ocmf6jeTwH

— Naila Inayat (@nailainayat) May 17, 2022

Temperatures in parts of Pakistan have recently reached 51 degrees Celsius (124 degrees Fahrenheit), leaving the poor and vulnerable fighting to stay cool in the impoverished country.

Asghar, who has more than 11 million followers on TikTok, said in a statement released by an assistant that she did not start the fire and there was “no harm in making videos”.

The clip has since been taken down.

The group said at least one other blaze this week in the hills surrounding the Pakistani capital was started for a social media video.

“The message these videos is sending is too risky and it needs to be contained,” Satti said.

One comment under Asghar’s video on TikTok said her actions were “sheer ignorance and madness”.

Pakistan is the eighth most vulnerable country to extreme weather caused by climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index compiled by NGO Germanwatch.

However, specialists claim that the general public is unaware of environmental hazards.

Forest fires are common from mid-April to the end of July, and are triggered by hot weather, lightning, and slash-and-burn farming.

Young people in Pakistan use TikTok extensively, and videos frequently receive hundreds of thousands of likes.