It is intriguing to note that in a country deeply infested with conservative dogmas, the murder of Qandeel Baloch, an internet celebrity sensation, did shake the conscience of many. Baloch wriggled her way through the rural landscape of Pakistan to transform herself and was still struggling to find herself a niche in the urban elite circles riding mainly on social media. She was a phenomenon that represented revolt and refusal to abide by strictures usually imposed by an overpowering inflexible social ecosystem. Sanam Maher, an eminent journalist, making her debut as an author, brings forth Baloch’s tryst with social binds and pressures that invariably impede a woman’s being not only in a country such as Pakistan but across South Asia and probably, more so, in the wider world.
In July 2016, Qandeel Baloch’s life was brought to an ironic end at the hands of her own brother near Multan in southern Punjab, her native place, in what was initially termed as an ‘honour killing’. This was done to restore the honour of the family as Baloch’s past actions purportedly brought much disrepute and ill fame. Considering the prevailing laws were lenient to acts of honour killing, the brother was convinced he would not remain in jail for long and would come out scot free. Baloch was an aspiring young woman, a social media creation, whose personality was revolting to the conservative roots she was born and brought up in. Primarily stepping into the spotlight with a screening for a singing talent show, she was soon introduced to the vagaries and unkindness that inhibit the glamour world. There she was probably less than welcome for her unconventional behaviour and peculiar antics. The book presents Qandeel Baloch as a woman still exploring her identity, negotiating through a variety of professions—all this while fending for her family’s monetary needs. The family had to vacate the house after Baloch’s murder—recalled later by her father as the ‘best son of all sons’ (p. 219) for shouldering the financial burdens of the family when none of the brothers seemed to do so.