ISLAMABAD: A day after Prime Minister Imran Khan faced a torrent of criticism for his comments on the rise in instances of sexual violence, women MPs from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf called out the “liberal brigade” for what she insisted was twisting of the statement.
In an interview with Jonathan Swan on Axios, the prime minister said: “If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men unless they’re robots. I mean, it’s common sense.”
“We don’t have discos here, we don’t have nightclubs, so it is a completely different society […] way of life here, so if you raise temptation in society […] all these young guys have nowhere to go, it has consequences in the society.”
In a press conference, Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul, who was flanked by Maleeka Bukhari and Kanwal Shauzab said there have been repeated efforts by the “liberal brigade” to distort the comments of Prime Minister Imran and mock his efforts to project a positive and progressing image of the country abroad.
She rejected criticism by rights groups and journalists who accused the prime minister of victim-blaming.
“Prime Minister Imran is the genuine symbol of women empowerment as for the first time, five female parliamentarians have been inducted into the federal cabinet and 12 have been made parliamentary secretaries who represent their ministries in the Parliament,” she said.
Zartaj underlined that women like herself were proud to be Pakistani woman practising Islam as her faith, with one of the finest and unique cultural and traditional norms.
“My religion, and culture, gives me respect […] and we are believers in women rights enshrined in Islam. “Islam gives me freedom and liberty […] and I am proud to have it [as my religion].”
The minister noted that Pakistani culture had numerous precedents of respecting women including men giving spaces to women in long queues and crowded places out of respect.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan is seriously concerned about [the rights of] women and girls and wants to ensure all possible facilities and protection from sexual violence,” she asserted.
PTI, after the Pakistan Movement, remained the only party that mobilised women across the country, she claimed. Before that, the sole precedent was the towering personality of Fatima Jinnah accompanied by her brother Muhammad Ali Jinnah, she said.
“I am an epitome [of women rights] coming from a tribal society, I was elected as an MP and became a member of the cabinet […] which became possible only due to strong political support and backing of Prime Minister Imran,” she observed.
On the occasion, Bukhari said Imran’s first direction to the Ministry of Law and Justice, after assuming office in 2018, was to introduce laws to reduce sexual violence and discrimination against women.
Bukhari said: “You cannot decide his plans for women [rights] by just taking his statements out of context and blowing them out of proportion.”
She recalled that Imran last year directed to set up special courts under the anti-rape law adopted by the parliament, terming it an unprecedented development.
To tackle the instances of sexual assault, she said, the government has established joint investigation teams, anti-rape crisis cells and special courts under the new law.
“Under Section-13 of the anti-rape law, the archaic two-finger rule to examine the virginity of a rape victim has been abolished. Character assassination attempts have also been criminalised under this law whereas the trial process in such cases has been expedited,” she recalled.
She added that the anti-rape fund to support the implementation of the legislation has been given Rs100 million in initial funding.
“Our government has adopted Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Act, 2020 and ensured its grassroots level implementation through the deputy commissioner and ombudspersons. We took calculated measures to curb rape instances.”
Bukhari invited all the political parties to partake in the dialogue with a bipartisan approach to protect women against sexual violence.
