We have made Urdu a symbol of illiteracy, says Yasir Hussain

Yasir Hussain has said that “we have made Urdu a symbol of illiteracy,” and the “English language cool”.

Sharing his thoughts on the Cannoli incident and the criticism the owners received for humiliating their manager, Yasir said: “[The] interesting fact is that owner of Cannoli made fun of their manager’s English and everyone (including my actor fraternity) raised their voice in English.”

“Did anyone think why the manager needed to speak English?,” he questioned. “From where did this complex come into our society?”

“We have made English cool and Urdu a symbol of illiteracy. It is something to be ashamed of,” he added.

In the viral video, the owners of Cannoli Café Soul in Islamabad, Uzma and Diya joked that their manager, who has been working at their café for nine years, has taken three language courses until now and still cannot speak fluent English.

The two ladies asked the manager Owais to introduce himself in English and when he struggled with speaking fluent English, they made fun of him by commenting on his salary. Owais was visibly uncomfortable in the video.

Soon after the video was posted on social media, people started calling out the women for their elitist behaviour and though they later issued an apology, people called them out for their “arrogant non-apology”.

Several celebrities including Sheheryar Munawar, Adnan Siddiqui, Sarah Khan and Ahsan Khan among others slammed the women for their distasteful comments and behaviour.

Meanwhile, Ameer Gilani took to Instagram and shared details about his meeting with Owais. In a story posted to his Instagram, Gilani said that Awais is a very nice and positive man. He also urged people to focus on the good side to eradicate the wrong.

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