ISLAMABAD: Even though Khawaja Mohammad Asif apologised to the National Assembly for his unsavoury remarks, Dr Shireen Mazari — his apparent target — has demanded that the minister apologise to her by name.

As a result, the issue remained unresolved on Thursday and undermined the unity of the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC). Set up in 2008 by former speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, the non-partisan WPC was meant to serve as a forum for parliamentarians to raise key issues affecting women in Pakistan.

Women lawmakers from the opposition were of the view that with the WPC’s reluctance to formally condemn Mr Asif’s remarks, they had no choice but to set up their own chapter of the caucus.

Shaista Malik of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, who runs the WPC as its secretary general, told Dawn she had convened a meeting of the caucus on Thursday at 12.30pm, but the sitting was postponed until 2.30pm after she came to know that the minister had filed a written apology.

“The speaker had expunged Mr Asif’s remarks, who has also given a written apology. On the insistence of the opposition, the minister also came to the floor of the house and regretted his outburst. I personally think we should move forward now,” she said.

Ms Malik claimed the meeting couldn’t be held due to the opposition’s boycott. “Frankly speaking, after the written apology and speaker’s assurance that nothing of this sort would happen again, there was no need for a meeting, but even then, we waited for the opposition.”

She claimed that women lawmakers from the Pakistan Peoples Party had their own axe to grind with the former patron of the caucus, Dr Fehmida Mirza, and were disrespecting the WPC to settle scores.

However, Dr Mazari insists that she did not receive any support from the WPC. “The PML-N is in a majority and if it wanted, the WPC could have condemned Mr Asif.” She said the caucus secretary deliberately wasted time, knowing that the minister was coming up with a “vague” apology.

When asked about the WPC’s refusal to stand against the mistreatment and abuse of a woman parliamentarian, Dr Mazari said, “We on the opposition benches are thinking of setting up our own caucus”.

Blow-by-blow account

In the house, proceedings began with Speaker Ayaz Sadiq reading out a letter from Mr Asif, which was sent to his office earlier in the morning.

“It seems that I allowed some of my remarks and conduct to be determined by hecklers from across the aisle, which I regret. My behaviour was improper for a political worker whose family has been blessed by Allah Almighty and the people of the constituency with the membership of this august house for over five decades. My apologies to the chair and the august house,” read the apology signed by Mr Asif.

Taking the floor, Dr Mazari immediately rejected the apology, saying, “I was not the only one heckling; a lot of people were doing that. He only passed such remarks against a woman. As far as the women [of the opposition] are concerned, this is not an apology.”

“When a person apologises, that apology should be to the satisfaction of the person whom he has insulted. In this case, it’s still short,” said Naveed Qamar of the PPP, supporting Dr Mazari’s argument. In the same vein, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Jamaat-i-Islami and even Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl members deplored the minister’s remarks.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that this was not the first time such an incident had taken place, adding that when a federal minister used such language for a woman colleague, “toh dunya mein tamasha lagay ga”.

“On one hand, [the world] sees that women are being burnt alive in our country; on the other, they see that [women’s] elected representatives are being degraded. I think time has come, we men should also review our behaviour towards women ... this isn’t just a party problem, it’s a women’s issue, it has become a social trend.”

WPC head Shaista Malik told the house that a meeting of the caucus had been called, and suggested that the house wait to hear from the minister himself before proceeding further.

But when Dr Mazari and Nafisa Shah of the PPP walked over to Ms Malik’s seat to discuss the matter, the former did not seem happy at all. From the press gallery, she could be heard saying, “This is not an apology to me, what do you mean apology ho gayi hai?”

The lack of support from the PML-N women incensed the women of the opposition, all of whom — except for Shazia Marri — walked out of the house and took their case to the media dais outside the assembly.

They were back by the time Mr Asif arrived in the house. Rising in his seat, the minister reiterated the sentiment expressed in his letter to the speaker. “With the kind of continuous heckling that was taking place, I responded in a natural way, where I may have crossed the line. I should not have made the remarks I made. I apologise to you, the house and all the members.”

But he was not done. “Preaching gender equality, but using gender as a refuge is a bit unfair. It would be better if we maintain gender equality. There is no gender where heckling is concerned. It is an established parliamentary tradition,” was his defence.

Although the speaker urged Dr Mazari to “have a big heart” and accept the unconditional apology, she would have none of it. “With all due respect, Khawaja Asif taunted me by name. It would have been decent of him to apologise to me by name. He targeted me by name when the whole opposition was heckling him.”

“Sir, I urge you examine the [record of] proceedings and my speech; if I’ve named anyone, I’ll apologise to them,” was Mr Asif’s reply.

This did not go down well with the opposition, and both Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Dr Nafisa Shah reiterated their demand for a direct apology. When one was not forthcoming, the entire opposition got up on its seats to walk out.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2016