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Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s controversial remarks blaming women’s clothing for rising sexual violence sparked outrage in the country, with leading leaders and activists condemning his comments.
Sharing an excerpt from Khan’s recent interview with Axios journalist Jonathan Swan, parliamentary leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, Senator Sherry Rahman expressed shock at the Prime Minister’s remarks.
“… No man has the right to blame women, or the way they dress, for violence, rape and crimes against women,” she tweeted.
Whether it is our laws or even our religion, which is very clear that respecting women is the responsibility of the beholder, no man has the right to blame women or the way they dress, for violence. , rape and crimes against women. Shocked that our PM is doing this. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/CB9kUE36sx
Senator SherryRehman (@sherryrehman) June 21, 2021
What did the Pakistani prime minister say?
In the interview broadcast by HBO on June 20, Khan said: If a woman wears very little clothing, it will have an impact on the man, unless it’s robots. Its common sense.
Earlier this year, in another interview with Geo News, Khan made similar comments, stating that sexual violence was a product of obscenity, which he described as a Western import.
Justifying his earlier remarks, Khan told Swan that he spoke about purdah as a way to avoid temptation. We don’t have nightclubs, we don’t have nightclubs, so it’s a different way of life here. If you increase the temptation in society to a point and all these young people have nowhere to go, it has consequences in society, he said.
Khan’s comments attract criticism
Rehman claimed that with such remarks, Khan “gives the oppressors and criminals against women a new narrative to justify their behavior.” There is NO justification for a Prime Minister to speak this way. Very irresponsible and condemnable. (sic) ”
Another politician and Minister of Women’s Development in Sindh, Shehla Raza, said Prime Minister Khan should focus on the issues facing the country instead of “keeping an eye on women,” the agency reported. PTI press release.
Pakistan Muslim League spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb also called Khan on Twitter, saying that “the world has had a glimpse of the state of mind of a sick, misogynistic, degenerate and abandoned IK (Imran Khan). It is not the choices of women that lead to sexual assault, but rather the choices of men, who choose to engage in this vile and vile crime.
An editorial in Pakistani newspaper Dawn criticizes the Prime Minister’s point of view: “Given that his government has strengthened the law against rape and also broadened its previous and unrealistic definition, Mr Khan clearly regards rape as a serious offense which deserves severe punishment. However, his understanding of the impulse leading to it is simplistic, contradictory, and illogical.
Arguing that his views reflect “the prevailing state of mind in society which reduces rape to a consequence of sexual frustration brought on by the appearance of victims,” the editorial claims that such remarks, appearing to “tolerate rape From an authority figure, “reinforce a dangerous narrative.”
Another editorial from The Express Tribune, “No sympathy for the victims,” highlights a recent case of sexual violence in Pakistan by a political leader assaulting a youth in a madrasa. “The victim in question was neither provocatively dressed nor a woman, for those who still believe that women are somehow responsible for the rape.”
“One wonders if the prime minister has given some thought to what came out and caused a lot of fury a few days ago,” the editorial says.
Lawyer and human rights professional, Reema Omar, expressed disappointment at Khan’s comments on Twitter. “… frankly disgusting to see Prime Minister Imran Khan repeat his victim blaming the reasons for sexual violence in Pakistan,” she said, adding that it was “a pity” that “the previous outcry had no impact on him “.
Nuzhat S Siddiqi, writer and sociologist, said in a Twitter thread: “Those who rape, rape. A piece of cloth or the fear of Allah does not deter them.
“Every year of my life has been devoted to my physical and personal limits to avoid being raped. Dear PM @ImranKhanPTI – do you know what it looks like? (sic) ”, she added.
We cannot end rape if we continue to find scapegoats at night time or clothing size, especially not from the Prime Minister’s seat. You have the power to fix systems and change mindsets, PM @ImranKhanPTI – please don’t waste your time and words to further activate what is wrong.
Nuzhat S. Siddiqi (@guldaar) June 21, 2021
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf defends Prime Minister
While Khan’s comments have been condemned by politicians and social media users, the PTI party was quick to defend the Prime Minister’s comments, lining up their female leaders.
At a press conference in support of the prime minister on Tuesday, Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul said the PTI government had mobilized women for the first time in Pakistan, the channel reported. Geo Tv press release.
PTI member Maleeka Ali Bokhari said Khan had “set aside 100 million rupees in the budget for the implementation of the anti-rape law”. “We are strong women and we have been strengthened by our leader Imran Khan,” she said.
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