'Shameful for a PM to cast aspersions on Pakistani women simply because they oppose him'
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief whip Shireen Mazari on Saturday called out Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his remarks in his speech in Okara where he said PTI's women workers are 'different' from those who work for his party. She further demanded that he should apologise for his statement.
Addressing female PML-N workers, Nawaz had said, "You are not like those women who were present at the opponent's (PTI) rally yesterday. You all saw on TV what they were doing."
As a response, PTI's Mazari, in one of her tweets, said: "What was [the prime minister] insinuating? Shameful for a PM to cast aspersions on Pakistani women simply because they oppose him!"
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She further accused people working in PML-N of having "a seriously misogynist mindset", adding whether it is Defence Minister Khawaja Asif or the PM himself, "they keep targeting women."
Mazari in a following tweet argued that Nawaz Sharif "should remember PML-N has women amongst its ranks [including his] daughter.
"Should we start abusing them? We will not remain silent," she added.
PTI Vice Chairperson Shah Mahmood Qureshi also supported Mazari's stance, joining her in condemning the "derogatory remarks about PTI women by PM Nawaz Sharif".
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman, referring to PM's statement, said, "For all those questioning what women are doing at rallies or anywhere else: they are making the world go round, not money."
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, sister of PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, also rebuffed PM Nawaz's statement, giving him a short "history lesson" about women such as their slain mother, Benazir Bhutto, "who led from the front" in the fight against misogyny.
Former law minister and Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarian Babar Awan further called out the PM in a tweet, backing women who support families financially and otherwise, and work for the country, saying that the Pakistan Constitution "demands full participation of women in national life".