A member of the Abbasid family, once the former nawabs of the princely state of Bahawalpur, urges the brand Maria B to post and later delete images and videos of a campaign taken at the private family cemetery.
The photos were taken from the designer’s new collection ‘Roohi’ and were posted on Facebook on Thursday. The campaign included footage from various locations in Bahawalpur. In it, the models are seen wandering and rotating at various locations, one of which has been described as the private burial ground of the Bahawalpur royal family. The videos and images have since been deleted, but the brand has not issued a statement or apology explaining why.
images reached out to Maria B for comment but has yet to receive a response.
The Old Royal Cemetery is at Ahmadpur Sharqiya Tehsil in Bahawalpur and is the burial place of the Abbasid Nawab family heads, including the former ruler of Bahawalpur state, Nawab Sadiq Mohammed Khan Abbasi. There are many mausoleums built for the wives of the nevabs around the cemetery. The cemetery has two parts – one where 12 monarchs are buried, and the other where the new generation is buried.
Only members of the Abbasid family and those who come to pray at the tombs can enter that area. The Abbasid dynasty ruled the state of Bahawalpur for nearly two and a half centuries, from 1690 to 1955.
Changez Khan, grandson of Sahibzada Mohammad Daud Khan Abbasi, son of the last nawab, posted pictures of the campaign on his public Instagram account, accusing Maria B of taking an unauthorized photo shoot at her maternal grandfather’s grave. He said: “This sketch is my grandmother’s grave. This model is literally dancing on my grandfather’s grave!”
Hakan has spoken images Regarding the incident, he said, “The site is our private property and a historical cemetery belonging to my maternal family. The campaign shows a model spinning on my grandfather’s grave. A new generation of the Abbasid family, including my aunts and grandfather, is buried there. But Maria B broke into our private property without permission. This is both terrible and unethical.”
According to him, the cemetery keeper said that the women came to the graves to perform the Fatiha prayer and allowed them to enter. “But I’m not sure if the caregiver was telling the truth. He may have taken a bribe. We’re still investigating, but the location is known and it’s obviously a cemetery, so it’s unacceptable for Maria B and her team to be so insensitive.”
He said they reached out to the designer but blamed the situation on his team. He said he was not aware of the location and that it was his team that fired there. He told them to shoot at the famous Derawar Fort, which is close to the cemetery, but the team decided to shoot on my family property as well.”
Khan said the family asked the designer for a general apology. “We are not after a monetary gain. The family just wants someone to take responsibility for it. I’m glad Maria B removed the post, but we want to set this as an example of how unethical and illegal it is. “We want an apology from the public, otherwise we will file a lawsuit,” he said.
With additional reporting from Gulzar Ahmed in Bahawalpur.