Current Final

Category: Editorial

  • Irresponsible celebrity remarks should be held accountable

    Irresponsible celebrity remarks should be held accountable

    Our celebrities have a large fan following and their words have an impact. When they use their celebrity status and clout to spout inanities, it is important to call them out. Recently, a clip of an interview of celebrity couple Shahroz Sabzwari and Sadaf Kanwal went viral where Sadaf made some problematic comments. “Our culture is our husband. I married him, which means I have to pick up his shoes and iron his clothes. I know where all of Shahroz’s things are and what and when he has to eat. I need to know these things because I am his wife and I am a woman. He doesn’t have to know the same about me.”

    First of all, a woman’s life does not have to revolve around her marriage and her husband. She has her own agency, her own life. Secondly, what kind of marriage is Ms Kanwal propagating where a woman is the one doing everything for the husband while the husband does not need to know anything about his wife’s likes or dislikes and does not have to do anything for her? Marriage is about an equal partnership, marriage is about giving and take, marriage is about sharing responsibilities, marriage is about companionship, marriage is about compatibility. Marriage is not some one-sided relationship where the woman has to keep making compromises or do everything in accordance with her husband’s whims and fancies.

    In a patriarchal society, a lot of women are told these things because women are only seen as mere objects instead of equal human beings. We are living in the 21st century now; we should really be challenging such archaic notions every second, every minute, every hour of our lives. Ms Kanwal also said that feminism has become a part of our lives now because liberals have ‘increased’ in society. We think that Ms Kanwal does not know the meaning of feminism. A feminist asks for equal rights for women, equal opportunities, an end to the oppression of women, an end to violence against women, and much more.

    Also, why are words like ‘feminists’ and ‘liberals’ used in a negative and derogatory way? Just because they call a spade a spade? Our celebrities really need to educate themselves on these issues. Ms Kanwal has a budding career as a model, she has financial independence too and yet she is dishing out such irresponsible comments, not even thinking about countless women in this country who are stuck in bad marriages because they were told to do what all she is propagating.

    As if Ms Kanwal’s comments were not enough, this week we saw a clip from the drama serial Laapata starring Ayeza Khan in which the issue of sexual harassment was shown as some sort of a blackmailing tool. Sexual harassment and sexual violence are serious issues and most of the underreported ones as well.

    When drama serials start trivialising harassment and project it as some sort of tool used by women to falsely accuse men and/or to blackmail men, it is a disservice to those countless women who are the victims and survivors of this crime. It is a shame that in this day and age, we have to explain these things to TV networks or writers or actors. Let’s hope better sense prevails in the entertainment industry regarding such sensitive and highly important issues.

  • Justice for us

    Justice for us

    Every week, nay every day, we hear of incidents of violence against women. A couple of weeks ago, the viral video of Usman Mirza harassing and subjecting a couple to sexual assault made the headlines. Then we heard of a man who shot his wife, Saima, in front of his children in Peshawar just this month. On July 15, another man tortured and killed his wife, Quratulain, in Hyderabad; they had four children. After each news, we think about what could be worse. But this cycle never ends as we hear of another shocking incident one after another. 


    This week, Noor Mukadam was murdered in Islamabad by Zahir Zakir Jaffer. A son of an influential businessman, Zahir is a dual national. According to the police, Zahir held Noor captive for a couple of days in his house before beheading her. She tried to escape once but was captured again by her tormentor. Noor’s gruesome death has left every woman wondering what it means to be a woman in a patriarchal society where no woman is safe just because of her gender. 

    Noor’s murder has sent shockwaves across the country. People are protesting and asking for justice. Details of this case leave one feeling completely helpless. We cannot even fathom the plight of her parents, her family. We didn’t know Noor personally but her murder feels so personal. Just reading how her mother kept saying that she leaves it in Allah’s hands (Allah ke hawaalay, Allah ke hawaalay) makes us cry in anger and agony. Why do women have to keep suffering? These incidents are not in isolation. It has everything to do with the fact how we treat our women in general, how misogyny is prevalent in our society, how toxic masculinity is present in almost every household, and how there is so much inequality between genders.


    Pakistan ranks 153 in the Global Gender Gap Report 2021 out of 156 countries. We have slipped two spots since last year as Pakistan’s gender gap had widened by 0.7 percentage points.  Have we ever wondered why? There are at least 1,000 honour killings each year as per reports. Women are killed, maimed, beaten up, raped, sexually assaulted, kidnapped, and much more. Whenever such incidents make headlines, there are always those who say this will tarnish our country’s image instead of saying that we need to change and reform our society. Fingers are almost always pointed at women, never at men who are the perpetrators of violent crimes against women. When we blame the victims and survivors, we — in essence — end up justifying the crime and giving impunity to the criminal. This must stop. Our justice system also needs to deliver. Conviction rates in most cases of violence against women are low. It makes women feel even more insecure. 


    Let’s make our women safe. Let’s teach our children about gender equality. Let’s call out each and everyone who blames the victims. Let’s call out patriarchy and misogyny for what it is instead of making up excuses for violent crimes. Let women live. 

  • Razzaq’s sexist comments

    Razzaq’s sexist comments

    It should not be surprising how prevalent sexism is in our society but it is still disappointing when sportsmen pass sexist comments about their women colleagues. Recently, former cricketer and all-rounder 0 made some unwarranted and extremely sexist remarks about women cricketers in the presence of Pakistan’s ace cricketer Nida Dar. 


    First, Razzaq said that women cricketers don’t get married. Then he added: “She [Dar] aspires to come to the level of the men’s cricket team and believes that men aren’t the only ones who can do everything, women can do these things as well. That’s why the feeling is gone. Shake her hands and you won’t even feel she’s a girl.” Nida Dar remained cool and composed despite such misogynist comments.


    To comment on a female athlete’s appearance is sexist. Period. It is unfortunate that our male cricketers think they can comment on their women colleagues’ appearance and say they are not feminine because they believe they are equal to men. If women demand equality, why does it irk our men? Women cricketers are as hardworking as our male cricketers. They are still not treated at par with their male counterparts. They also face sexism from society when we see comments about their appearance and bodies, which is quite prevalent. Instead of doing the same, Abdul Razzaq should have been more encouraging of women cricketers. He should have commended them for their courage and hard work despite facing so many challenges to reach the national cricket team. 

    This is not the first time we have seen such comments about women. It is no secret that we don’t treat women the same way as men, we don’t think of them as heroes, we don’t think they are at par with men. Recently, we saw how an issue was made by the Punjab Curriculum & Textbook Board for printing Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai’s picture alongside other important personalities. A campaign was started not to include Malala in the same list as that of other heroes. This is our unfortunate reality. 
    Let’s pay heed to the words of our founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah: “ No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you.”
    Pakistan cannot move forward without empowering women and breaking the chains of patriarchy.

  • Usman Mirza case: Stop blaming the victim

    Usman Mirza case: Stop blaming the victim

    A harrowing video recently went viral on social media in which a man, Usman Mirza, was seen harassing and assaulting a young couple. He had a few male accomplices with him, and he was also armed. Mirza beat up the couple, stripped them, and subjected them to sexual assault. Pakistani women on social media came out in support of the young couple and also voiced how unsafe and insecure they feel in a society full of misogyny and violence.

    Following an uproar on social media, the police arrested Usman Mirza and his accomplices. The police also reached out to the couple to record their statement. According to media reports, the couple recorded their statements separately under Section 161 of the Criminal Code. The incident took place last year in November and the couple was blackmailed by the culprit; they ended up paying more than a million rupees to Mirza. This was clearly not an isolated incident as more videos have been found from the mobile phones of the arrested men. It shows that this gang of criminals has been indulging in such nefarious activities for quite some time now.

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken notice of the case. The Islamabad police chief briefed PM Khan on the case yesterday. Thankfully, the police have so far been extremely responsible and have not indulged in any victim-blaming, unlike the Motorway gang rape case where CCPO Lahore’s comments about the rape survivor were atrocious, to say the least. SSP (Investigations) Atta-ur-Rehman appeared on a few TV talk shows and actually talked about why such incidents are not reported by victims and survivors due to social taboos. Unfortunately, we still have people in our society who think the victims are somehow at fault instead of holding the culprits solely responsible for their crime. Just last month, PM Khan made a controversial statement in an interview where he said that if women wear very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men unless they are robots. And today, in a now-deleted tweet, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Hina Butt said that while beasts Usman Mirza should be condemned but is it not necessary that we teach our boys and girls why they become targets of such beasts. “Our youth should also introspect their own behaviour.”

    One wonders why the young couple should introspect when they were the victims and not the perpetrators of a despicable crime. In fact, those who are busy blaming and shaming innocent victims should be introspecting instead. Such attitudes do not just make victims and survivors more insecure but are extremely triggering for those who have faced sexual harassment, assault, and rape. Why is it that ‘honour’ is always linked to a woman in our society? Why is it that instead of empowering women, even empowered women end up blaming the victims of abuse? Why is it that everything depends on how a woman was dressed or where she was or who she was with or at what time she went out? Why? We need to uproot this deeply embedded misogyny from our minds. We need to make our women feel secure. We need to make our laws stronger and implement them so that these survivors have trust in the justice system and also in our society so that they do report such harrowing incidents instead of staying quiet due to expected backlash. When we start pointing fingers at the victim, we end up empowering the criminals, the perpetrators of violent crimes. Stop this trend. Enough is enough.

  • National security briefing

    National security briefing

    Speaker National Assembly (NA) Asad Qaiser summoned a session of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security on July1. Army chief and heads of security institutions participated in the meeting. Politicians and legislators were given an in-depth briefing on Kashmir, Afghanistan, and internal security challenges.

    Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Mohsin Dawar, Yousaf Raza Gillani, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and many others were part of the in-camera briefing.

    However, Prime Minister Imran Khan did not attend the meeting. Government spokespersons said that PM Khan was going to attend the meeting but Speaker Asad Qaiser conveyed to him that Shehbaz Sharif would not attend the briefing if Khan attended it. However, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders have denied this. But NA Secretariat spokesperson also clarified that PM Imran Khan was always willing to attend the meeting but the only reason for not attending the meeting was reservations conveyed to the Assembly secretariat by some Opposition leaders.

    First of all, why did the Opposition ask the PM not to attend the meeting? Some say that the message by Shehbaz Sharif was miscommunicated. Well, the PML-N should clarify what message was conveyed, if any, and why.

    Sharif wanted to sign a Charter of Economy in order to improve Pakistan’s economy so why would he not allow PM Khan to attend such a meeting. Prime Minister Imran Khan does not need Mr Sharif’s permission or anyone else’s to attend an important parliamentary meeting.

    Secondly, even if Shehbaz Sharif had sent this message, why did the prime minister give in? This meeting was extremely important in light of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and its consequences for Pakistan. All political leadership should have been there, including the PM, so as to come to a national consensus on these security issues. When has the prime minister ever listened to the Opposition before that he chose to finally pay heed to them now?

    Thirdly, Speaker NA Asad Qaiser was the convenor of the meeting. Why did he discourage the prime minister from attending such an important and sensitive meeting.

    Our leadership should not let their political differences come in the way when it comes to national security issues. Such differences should be limited to electoral politics, not on issues that have an impact on the future of the country. We hope that the next time there is such a meeting, or when issues related to the country’s future are discussed, all leaders would sit on the same table and build a national consensus.

  • Rape apology is not ‘common sense’

    Rape apology is not ‘common sense’

    A video of a TV talk show host recently went viral in which he was comparing women with ‘toffees. He said that if you left an unwrapped candy on the road for an hour, nobody would eat it because it would have been attacked by viruses, bacteria, germs, flies, mosquitoes, etc. He made this comparison in response to the backlash that Prime Minister Imran Khan is facing after his recent interview where he blamed women for sexual violence. When journalist Jonathan Swan asked PM Khan about sexual violence in Pakistan and if he thought that what women wear has any effect and if that’s part of this temptation, PM replied: “If a woman is wearing very few clothes it will have an impact on the man unless they are robots. It’s common sense.”

    It is not common sense to blame the victim for a sexual crime; it is not common sense to blame women for being raped instead of blaming the real culprit, i.e. the rapist; it is not common sense to tell women what to wear; it is not common sense that the prime minister of a country would issue a rape apology instead of responding to the question by simply saying that no, women’s clothes have nothing to do with rapes or sexual crimes. Period. When the prime minister tries to equate women’s clothes, it is not just irresponsible but also has far-reaching consequences. When people question victims of sexual assault about what they were wearing, it is an affront to all the survivors, dead and alive. It was also quite sad to see three women MNAs defending PM’s rape apology. We understand that it is their job to defend their party and leadership but it would have been better if they had just remained quiet if they could not condemn this statement.

    PM Khan’s comments are not just triggering for all victims and survivors of sexual abuse but are downright insulting. What was a six-month old baby wearing when they were raped, what was little Zainab wearing when she was raped, what was the boy in the madrassa wearing that ‘tempted’ Mufti Aziz, what were dead women wearing in their graves when someone dug out their bodies to rape them? Rape is not about lust. It is about power, humiliation, control. Rape is a violent crime, which has nothing to do with the way anyone dresses. In the United States, a Federal Commission on Crime of Violence study found that most convicted rapists could not remember what their victims were wearing. This is just a myth perpetuated by many, including the TV talk show host who thinks women are somehow candies or PM Khan who thinks women’s clothes somehow tempt men unless those men are ‘robots’ who do not act after being ‘tempted’.

    Rape apology in any form is unacceptable. We hope that the PM will realise his mistake and not repeat it because such comments do not make women feel safe, at all. 

  • When a Mufti rapes, why do we silence the victim?

    When a Mufti rapes, why do we silence the victim?

    An FIR (first information report) was recently registered against Mufti Aziz-ur-Rehman of Lahore’s Jamia Manzoorul Islamia over charges of unnatural offenses (sodomy) and criminal intimidation. Mufti Aziz-ur-Rehman’s video went viral on social media in which he can be seen sexually assaulting one of his students.

    The young student taped the incident on video to prove how he was being raped on a regular basis by the mufti and the madrassa administration refused to believe him when he complained about the sexual abuse. The student, who is in hiding because he has been receiving death threats from Mufti Aziz and his sons, said this had been going on for more than three years. In the disturbing video of sexual assault, the student later says that he is contemplating suicide. Mufti Aziz and his sons are on the run and have not yet been arrested.

    Mufti Aziz has been expelled from the seminary and his title of a religious scholar has been stripped off by the Wafaq-ul-Madaris. When the disturbing video did the rounds on social media, only then was the matter highlighted and action taken against Mufti Aziz. The young student was able to record a video of this heinous crime but what about those students and young children who are unable to record such incidents? This is not just about seminaries but schools and other places in the country. As per Sahil, an NGO that works on child protection and child sexual abuse, 2,960 cases of child abuse were reported across Pakistan in 2020. This is just the tip of the iceberg as many cases of child abuse and sexual assaults and rape are either never reported, or the survivors’ and victims’ are blackmailed, their families pressurised. In some cases, reports indicate that the police are bribed or such cases are settled out of court even though this is not legally allowed.

    We saw extreme outrage over Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai’s innocent remarks about marriage in a recent interview. The matter was even discussed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and she was asked to clarify her comments. Where is this indignation now in the case of Mufti Aziz? Why are we not outraged that a young boy was repeatedly raped by his teacher? Why are we not talking about how such cases are overlooked most of the time and how our society reacts to fake videos of Aurat March versus a legit video of sexual abuse? Even with the evidence out in public, we saw some sickening remarks of how the ‘act’ was ‘consensual’ because the student did not ‘resist’ it. Such insinuations are extremely disturbing because the student has made it quite clear in his statement how he was forced to go through this abuse because of the power dynamics against his will. Why don’t we believe victims and survivors of sexual abuse? This is a sad reflection of how we behave as a society. We need to change this and believe the survivors of abuse. We also need to start teaching our children about good touch and bad touch. It is imperative that we make our children safe from predators.

  • Majeed Niazi’s misogyny and Firdous’ slap

    Majeed Niazi’s misogyny and Firdous’ slap

    Two members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have made the news this week and for all the wrong reasons. Yesterday, during the Budget session in the National Assembly, PTI’s MNA Abdul Majeed Khan Niazi passed some sexist and misogynist comments against Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. By mocking Bilawal Bhutto through gender-based slurs, Mr Niazi is not just demeaning the PPP Chairman but women as well. Such sexist comments by government members are not something new. From Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing Bilawal Bhutto as ‘sahiba’ to Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed calling him ‘Billo Rani’, such sexist comments are absolutely disgusting. 

    Political rivalry does not mean that you attack your opponents in a derogatory way. If somebody wants to criticise their political opponents, they should be criticised for their politics and policies. Such comments are not just below the belt but should be condemned across the board. In the past, we have seen Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif pass sexist comments against PTI’s Shireen Mazari. We have also seen PPP’s Abdul Qadir Patel’s disgustingly personal attacks against PTI’s Murad Saeed. Such attacks are sickening, to say the least, and should not be tolerated by any political party. Unfortunately, it seems that parties do not condemn such comments in the public domain. Some say, they are privately encouraged. 

    Talking of attacks, on Thursday, Special Assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan slapped Qadir Mandokhel of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on the set of Express News’ programme ‘Kal Tak’ during a break. The video of the off-air brawl between Dr Firdous and Qadir Mandokhel went viral on the internet. While Firdous said that it all started because Mandokhel abused her first, the said programme’s host Javed Chaudhry clarified that it was indeed Firdous who first used abusive language for Mandokhel. Abusing your political opponents is uncalled for to begin with and then getting physical with them is going one-step ahead and cannot be condemned enough. We have seen late Naeem-ul-Haque slap PML-N’s Daniyal Aziz on air. Mr Haque also threw a glass of water on PPP’s Jamil Soomro many years ago in a talk show. This trend is nothing new but it does not mean that it should be encouraged or condoned. 

    We expect our public representatives to act in a responsible manner. Unfortunately, they disappoint us on several occasions. We hope that party leadership will make their members accountable for such actions rather than silently encouraging them.

  • Malala: Pakistan’s pride

    Malala: Pakistan’s pride

    Malala Yousafzai, a name that evokes different emotions – from pride to love to respect to a need to protect her from everything that is vile. Malala is the youngest Nobel laureate and the second Pakistani to win the Nobel after Dr Abdus Salam. Unfortunately, both Pakistani Nobel laureates have been vilified by many in Pakistani society – Dr Salam for being for being an Ahmadi and Malala for just being Malala.

    Malala’s recent interview to British Vogue has created quite a controversy yet again. So much so that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has even asked Malala to explain her comments regarding partnership. This despite the fact that Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, explained in a tweet that Malala’s comments were taken out of context by the media and social media and have been spread in a negative way.

    The 23-year-old young girl spoke about several issues – from relationships to wearing a dupatta to politics to college life. In her interview, the young Nobel Laureate defended her choice to wear a dupatta (scarf) to cover her head. “And Muslim girls or Pashtun girls or Pakistani girls, when we follow our traditional dress, we’re considered to be oppressed, or voiceless, or living under patriarchy. I want to tell everyone that you can have your own voice within your culture, and you can have equality in your culture.” She also talked about marriage and how she is unsure about getting married. She was quoted as asking why marriage “can’t just be a partnership”. Several people on social media and our very own Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly have taken this as an opposition to the concept of nikkah or marriage. It seems quite obvious that as any other young girl of the same age, Malala is unsure of what being married entails. She is asking why marriage is seen as just a contract or signed papers and not a partnership… a partnership that is more about companionship, similar values, compatibility, etc. She did not say anything about nikkah or a live-in relationship, which is how her words are being misconstrued and misinterpreted. It is quite appalling to see the way Malala is being attacked for an innocent query.

    This is of course not the first time that Malala is targeted so viciously on social media. That she barely survived a brutal assassination attempt by the Taliban is questioned by the anti-Malala brigade. They call it a ‘drama’. Well, they should be glad that none of them have had to go through this brutality. When Malala released a statement on Israel and Palestine, she was questioned for why it was not worded more strongly. Of course these Twitter warriors did not know that Malala has done far more for the children of Gaza than any one of them. Back in 2014, she gave $50,000 for the reconstruction of Gaza schools. In May this year, Malala donated $150,000 for children in Gaza. But who can argue with social media warriors and conspiracy theorists with logic?

    Let Malala live her life and give her a break. She does not owe anyone an explanation. Long Live, Malala, our pride!

  • Stand for Palestine

    The UN Security Council (UNSC) welcomed the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. UNSC members also stressed “the immediate need for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly in Gaza.”

    According to Al Jazeera, the Palestinian death toll on Saturday stood at 248, including 66 children, with more than 1,900 people wounded from Israeli air and artillery attacks.

    Barely a few hours after the ceasefire was reached, Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and used stun grenades and rubber bullets against Palestinians after Friday prayers. Journalists covering the incident were also attacked.

    Such highhandedness by Israel is nothing new. The Israelis have not just occupied land in Palestine but the atrocities committed by them against unarmed Palestinians are horrific and countless. Imagine being expelled from your homes and then also being attacked. And to add insult to injury, they are portrayed as being the aggressors instead of Israel, whom the world community says acts in so-called ‘self-defence’. How an oppressor gets away with war crimes is disturbing at so many levels.

    We have seen how the world community rallies behind Israel. While Pakistan has been consistent in raising its voice for the cause of Palestine, most Muslim countries just pay mere lip service and move on. We have not seen them stopping trade with Israel or cutting off diplomatic ties in protest. The Palestinians are on their own, it seems. But this cannot go on forever. Before social media, Israel could hide behind its false narrative of being provoked. Now the world can see actual footage of its crimes. We have seen hundreds of videos where children are scared of continuous bombing; buildings being flattened and innocent people standing on the rubble, nursing their wounds. The stories coming out of Palestine are horrific. One man said he “did the strangest thing” when he exchanged how children with his brother’s. “I took two of his children, and gave him two of mine. So in case I get bombed, one of mine will survive and if he gets bombed, one of his will live on.”

    These are not just stories; these are lived realities. We hope the Palestinians can one day find peace in their own land and not live in constant fear. These injustices must stop!