Pakistani social media influencer Humaira Asghar, also known as Dolly, has stirred up anger among Pakistani netizens after posting a video of herself walking in front of a forest fire in Margalla Hills of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. "Fire erupts wherever I am," she wrote in the caption.
TikTok later removed the video, stating that it promoted "dangerous" and "illegal" behaviour.
The public outcry against Asghar has been fuelled due to the sweltering heat that has smothered many parts of Pakistan since April, much like in the northern parts of India. Last week, temperatures nearly touched 50°C in the Sindh region, while cities like Peshawar, Karachi and Lahore recorded temperatures around 40°C.
Asghar, who has over 11 million fans on TikTok, was accosted by a number of internet users, for putting up a video that was deemed as insensitive. A lot of these users accused her of starting the fire herself to get traction.
Environmental activist Rina Saeed Khan, who is also the chairman of Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, shared Asghar's video on Twitter and wrote, "This is a disturbing & disastrous trend on Tik Tok! Young people desperate 4 followers are setting fire to our forests during this hot & dry season!"
She also demanded legal actions against her. "In Australia it is lifetime imprisonment for those who start wildfires. We need to introduce similar legislation," she added.
Asghar denied setting the fire herself, in a statement to the media, adding that "there was no harm in making videos".
However, Asghar is not the first person to be accused of starting a forest fire to shoot a video. Earlier this month, a man was arrested in Abbottabad for allegedly setting a portion of a forest on fire to shoot a video.
Saeed also mentioned on Twitter that an application to register an FIR against Asghar has been made at Kohsar police station yesterday by the Capital Development Authority.
It is not yet certain whether Asghar did start the fire herself, or simply shot the video in front of a forest fire.
A fire had reportedly broken out on Monday at Chinari area on the Margalla Hills, and spread to other parts. Furthermore, this specific area is prone to forest fires, especially during the dry and hot periods of April and May, witnessing multiple fire instances every year.