Yashma Gill says she isn’t leaving the entertainment industry

Yashma Gill wants you to know she isn’t leaving the entertainment industry just yet. The actor issued a clarification on social media after her introduction to religious preacher Dr Zakir Naik was misconstrued during his lecture at Governor House in Karachi.

In an Instagram story shared on Sunday evening, the actor said she attended the talk and had the opportunity to speak about things she personally struggles with in her own spiritual journey.

“While speaking, I made a statement which was probably not said in the most comprehensive way and because of the noise from the crowd and the mic switching off again and agains, maybe the distortion in the beginning gave the impression that I have left the acting industry,” she said.

“I would like to clear any misunderstanding formed from my end as I am still acting and working and being an actress was only mentioned as my profession before going ahead with the question. I’m sure it will make a lot more sense if the whole video is watched from the start.”

In videos from the event, Gill introduced herself as an actor and spoke about “falling into the trap of atheism” during her college days. She said she was “brought back to [her] religion” because of Dr Naik’s videos and lectures. She also asked a question about predestination and free will.

When answering her question, Dr Naik mistakenly referred to her as a former actor, prompting the confusion.

In her Instagram story, Gill said she doesn’t know what the future holds, but for now she’s still on a journey of “finding balance between deen and dunya”.

She appreciated Dr Naik’s point of view and said he played a big role in bringing her closer to her religion, encouraging people to attend his talks.

In a followup story, she clarified that she wasn’t able to correct the misunderstanding at the venue because it would have been disrespectful to interrupt him while he was speaking.

Dr Naik is in Pakistan on a month-long trip that will see him deliver lectures in major cities of the country including Kara­chi, Islamabad and Lahore. This is Naik’s first visit to Pakistan in three decades — the last time he visited was in 1992, when he met with religious scholar Dr Israr Ahmed in Lahore before returning to India.

Although originally from India, the preacher currently resides in Malaysia due to legal troubles in his home country, which has sought his extradition in a number of cases.