Tag: misogyny

  • Hasan Iqbal Chisti slammed for misogynistic song against girl’s education

    Hasan Iqbal Chisti slammed for misogynistic song against girl’s education

    Clerical singer Hassan Iqbal Chisti, known for singing controversial songs that he claims are devotional, is again under fire for yet another rendition against girl’s education, titled ‘Apni Dhi Schoolo Hata Le| Othy Dance Kardi Payi Ae|’ [Take your daughter out of school, she is dancing there.]

    Chishti was slammed by social media for his misogynistic approach.

    Social activist Asma Azam lambasted him: “They can see girls dancing in the school but not the children getting raped in the Madrassas. Is it approved or Halaal for them?”

    Another netizen, Maria Amir, wrote, “As if there isn’t enough ridiculous bigoted, backwards propaganda against girls education in our part of the world already, scum like this are now making ‘music videos’ …. so they can hate on ‘girls dancing in school.”

    Sumaira Khalid posted, “Is dancing for clerics like these Halaal?”

    Mohammad Hassan expressed his anger over this song cum kalam by writing that this satanic cleric should be sent to jail and beaten for this. “It is a matter of shame for those who support these clerics.”

  • PPP’s Ali Madad Jattak caught mistreating female professors on video

    PPP’s Ali Madad Jattak caught mistreating female professors on video

    A video of Ali Madad Jattak, a senior politician from Quetta affiliated with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has emerged online where he was seen talking to women protestors in a raised voice. The women were protesting against the government on the issue of delayed salaries.

    “That is why you can’t feel the pain,” the protesting professor sitting at the ground was seen saying as Ali related that his own mother and sister will never be sitting like this. As the woman argued, he says out loud, “Khabardar”. His assistant can also be seen admonishing the woman and asking her to behave herself.

    The incident happened during a protest demonstration organized by teachers and the staff of the university, who have been enduring a three-month delay in their salaries.

    The protesters, voicing their grievances outside the Balochistan Assembly on Monday, sought a resolution to the salary delays. The assembly speaker sent Ali Madad Jattak and other officials for negotiations. However, tensions erupted when Jattak reportedly adopted an aggressive attitude and resorted to using abusive language towards the protesting professor Tatara Achakzai.

    The distressing incident triggered outcry on social media platforms, prompting Chief Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti to intervene. In an effort to redeem the situation, Bugti extended apologies on behalf of Jattak and sought forgiveness from the aggrieved female teachers, reported Quetta Voice.

  • Saba Faisal has a strange tip for girls who want to marry rich

    Saba Faisal has a strange tip for girls who want to marry rich

    Veteran actress Saba Faisal was a guest on the Samaa show ‘Subh Ka Samaa Madehaa Kay Sath’ where she spoke about girls having unrealistic expectations from marriage, including immediately becoming the owner of a home after marrying a man. Her advise to these girls who wished to become financially secure was, not to look for better jobs, but to marry older man.

    “Today’s girls think they will immediately become owner’s of homes after getting married and have a lot of wealth. They don’t realise that young men are struggling with their jobs in these periods. If you’re looking for financial stability, then a better choice is that you marry a man who is between the ages of 40 or 50. Since he would be able to fulfil all of your needs.”

    Turns out this wasn’t the only housekeeping tip Miss Saba had to offer on the show. She also urged parents to pray for their son’s fortunes, rather than entirely focusing on their daughters because after all it is the son who is responsible for running the entire household. Women can’t become bread winners, Miss Saba? They are solely just burden on their parents because they have to eventually get married and become the responsibility of someone else?

    “Parent’s shouldn’t just pray that their daughters fortunes are good, but they should also pray that their sons are blessed in life. They are the ones who are responsible for handling an entire household, and when they get married they have to get a wife who would take care of the entire family. Men have an enormous responsibility.”

    Can celebrities please stick to solely acting projects and not churn out advice we never asked for?

  • Another book launch today against Imran Khan

    After former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ex-wife Reham Khan released a book in August 2018 detailing her tumultuous and short-lived marriage, Pakistani actress, Hajira Panezai, has made serious allegations against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman in her book, The News has reported.  

    Actress Hajira Khan’s memoir, titled “WHERE THE OPIUM GROWS: Surviving Pakistan as a Woman, an Actress And Knowing Imran Khan,” was published in America in 2014.

    In the book, she reflects on her experiences with the PTI Chairman. The actress revealed that in her last book, many important things were deleted, but now she is going to publish a book with significant details.

    She explained how she was chased by popular individuals, calling it a “dark experience”.

    Panezai also claimed that her social media accounts were hacked by Imran Khan’s team, adding that she was forced to leave Pakistan as the PTI chairman was afraid of being exposed by her.

    The actress worked with Geo in 2009, and appeared in a film titled Pinky Memsaab in 2018. Hajira Khan claimed that her book is based on true stories, while the book is being launched in Islamabad today.

  • ‘Do takkay ki larki’ ka yeh matlab nahi’: Adnan Siddiqui defends controversial dialogue from Mere Pass Tum Ho

    ‘Do takkay ki larki’ ka yeh matlab nahi’: Adnan Siddiqui defends controversial dialogue from Mere Pass Tum Ho

    Adnan Siddiqui appeared on a recent episode of Ahmed Ali Butt’s podcast ‘Excuse Me’ where he addressed his role in the controversial drama ‘Mere Pass Tum Ho’ and the dialogue ‘do takkay ki larki’ which sparked intense outrage from women in Pakistan.

    Butt revealed that he had a conversation with the writer Khalil ul Rehman about the line, to which the writer had responded that he used the word ‘larki’ for one woman. Siddiqui pointed out it was solely directed towards the female character Mehwish (played by Ayeza Khan) rather than a generalisation of all women. He further stressed that audiences should contextualise the dialogue within the drama.

    “Mehwish and Shehwaar were both equally blamed for this. Danish, who was deeply in love with his wife, sacrificed a lot for her happiness and was madly in love with her. When he discovered the affair he was outraged, which led to the dialogue. In his rage, he couldn’t use a slur because he’s a man of culture. So this was his slur. Let’s stick to that scenario because that dialogue was solely meant for Mehwish and not all women of Pakistan.”

    The host behind reality TV series ‘Tamasha’ urged audiences not to conflate characters to real-life people, pointing out that the characters in the story line were not a reflection of reality.

  • Alia Bhatt is done with criticism of husband Ranbir Kapoor

    Alia Bhatt is done with criticism of husband Ranbir Kapoor

    Bollywood A-list couple Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor were embroiled in several controversies due to the latter’s sexist comments. In August, the actor was slammed by netizens for being a “toxic, privileged man” following Alia’s revelation in a Vogue interview that Ranbir didn’t allow her to wear lipstick when the two were dating.

    READ MORE: ‘While we were dating, Ranbir told me not to wear lipstick’: Alia’s Vogue interview sparks outrage

    Now, Alia has addressed the criticism directed at her husband in an interview on Koffee With Karan.

    “I have a very candid way of speaking…things just get picked out of context which happened recently. My team told me ‘Ye kuch out of hand jaara hai’. There were serious articles written about how he was a toxic man.”

    Alia added that she was concerned about the criticism, as Ranbir is the opposite of toxic.

    Ranbir’s advice was to ignore what the media said about her, as long as her career was doing well, Alia narrated.

    “Ranbir says this, ‘Alia the audience owns you, they can say whatever the hell they want to say about you, as long as your movies are doing well please don’t complain sitting in your apartment in Bandra.”

    Speaking about the criticism, Ranbir revealed he was okay with being labelled as an example of ‘toxic masculinity’, because the fight was bigger than him:

    “Recently, I was reading an article about being toxic and something relating to some statement I made, and I understand. Listen, I am on your side. Whatever you are fighting against this toxic masculinity, I am on the side of people who are fighting for it. So, if they want to use me as a face, I am fine because their fight is bigger than just me feeling bad about them having an opinion on what I said.”

    READ MORE: ‘It doesn’t matter’: Ranbir Kapoor responds to label of ‘toxic masculinity’

  • Sarah Inam’s lawyer wants death penalty for her husband Shahnawaz 

    Sarah Inam’s lawyer wants death penalty for her husband Shahnawaz 

    An Islamabad district and sessions court was informed on Thursday that all the evidence collected in the Sarah Inam murder case proves that her husband Shahnawaz Amir, the prime suspect and husband of the victim, is guilty of murdering his wife, reports Dawn.

    In the latest hearing, Rao Abdur Rahim, counsel for Sarah’s father, told Sessions Judge Nasir Javed Rana that a forensic analysis revealed two photos were found in Shahnawaz’s phone, one of which was of the victim. He said it showed Sarah’s body, covered with a white cloth, lying in the room. The photo, he added, was also sent through WhatsApp. He did not mention to whom it was sent.

    According to Shahnawaz’s testimony, there was no disagreement between him and the victim. “We have found a document from the accused’s mobile phone which is dated prior to Sarah’s arrival in Pakistan,” the lawyer said, adding that testimonies could lie but documents could not. He mentioned in the court, “The victim’s phone was destroyed when she reached the accused’s house. She was at his mercy.”

    Rao further said that the postmortem report showed there were bruises on Sarah’s body, her bones were broken, and all these injuries were inflicted while the victim was still alive. “How is it possible that Samina Shah didn’t hear a thing while Sarah was tortured to this extent,” he asked while reminding the court that there were only three people in the house at the time of the murder — Shahnawaz, his mother, and Sarah. 

    The lawyer also highlighted that the accused had said he didn’t divorce Sarah, but his phone record showed otherwise. Moreover, the DVR at Shahnawaz’s house was removed just two days before the crime, he added.

    “All this evidence proves Shahnawaz’s crime,” Rao asserted, comparing the murder with the Noor Mukadam case. He then pleaded to the court to hand the death penalty to the accused and concluded his arguments.

    Subsequently, Prosecutor Rana Hassan Abbas presented counter-arguments. He said the incident was neither reported by the police nor the suspect. “The victim was an educated and talented woman,” he told the court, recalling that Sarah married Shahnawaz last year.

    According to the evidence collected from the accused’s mobile phone, Sarah called Shahnawaz on Sept 18 — five days before her alleged murder — the prosecutor said and read out loud the transcript of the conversation. “The accused blocked Sarah multiple times and even threatened her,” he said, adding that the victim was just requesting that her parents be given a chance to see her off in an honourable way.

    “Three messages in this chat were deleted that were possibly related to divorce,” prosecutor Abbas suggested. The last message sent by Shahnawaz was on September 20 after which Sarah landed in Pakistan on September 22 and stayed with the accused and his mother.

    On the day of the murder, he continued, Samina told the police that her son committed the murder after which evidence — including the murder weapon — was collected from the crime scene. “Shahnawaz’s DNA was found from the injuries on Sarah’s body,” Abbas said, adding that the accused’s clothes were smeared with blood.

    He added that passports and mobile phones were also seized.

    Here, Judge Rana asked the prosecutor how much more time he would need, to which Abbas replied 20 minutes. The judge, however, said he had a meeting to attend and adjourned the hearing till Monday, November 20.

    Shahnawaz, the son of noted political analyst and commentator Ayyaz Amir, was arrested on September 2023 last year from his farmhouse in Islamabad. Sarah was reportedly murdered just a day after she arrived in the country from Dubai where she had been working. Her husband was initially remanded to police custody a day after his arrest and the period of his physical remand was extended several times.

    Shahnawaz’s father, Ayaz Amir was discharged from the case and his mother Sameena Shah, nominated as co-accused in the case, was granted post-arrest bail in November last year.

    The postmortem revealed that Sarah had suffered multiple head fractures leading to her death.

    Read more: Court summons Sarah Inam’s husband

  • ‘It doesn’t matter’: Ranbir Kapoor responds to label of ‘toxic masculinity’

    Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor was the center of criticism from the public when certain moments with his wife, actress Alia Bhatt, didn’t sit well with fans. Recently, the ‘Barfi’ actor went viral after Alia’s interview with Vogue where she revealed Ranbir forbade her from wearing lipstick. This attracted severe criticism from X (formerly Twitter) users who lashed out at Ranbir by labelling him a ‘red flag’ all women should avoid.

    READ MORE: ‘While we were dating, Ranbir told me not to wear lipstick’: Alia’s Vogue interview sparks outrage

    Recently in an interview the actor, who’s the son of late star Rishi Kapoor, acknowledged the backlash, stating that he is fine with being labeled the face of toxic masculinity.

    “Recently, I was reading an article about being toxic and something relating to some statement I made, and I understand. Listen, I am on your side. Whatever you are fighting against this toxic masculinity, I am on the side of people who are fighting for it. So, if they want to use me as a face, I am fine because their fight is bigger than just me feeling bad about them having an opinion on what I said,” the actor opined according to The Indian Express.

    The ‘Tamasha’ actor said he accepted a long time ago he would become a part of “gossip blogs”, and further said it didn’t matter to him what critics said.

    Ranbir also said him not being active on social media helps in not having to deal with the negativity that comes with being an actor “which is a great thing.”

    But also, Ranbir added, his focus always remained on his work, and takes opinions about his image with a pinch of salt:

    “Sometimes a lot of things are written about you as an actor, and many opinions are made, which are not necessarily true, but you have to take it with a pinch of salt. Because this image of mine, which is being created by the movies or the characters I play or by media, is something that I don’t own. It is owned by the public, it is owned by people who like or dislike my work and they are allowed to say anything as long as they give my work a chance. My focus has always been just to act.”

  • So, Deepika-Ranveer casually dated before marriage. Why is social so pissed off?

    So, Deepika-Ranveer casually dated before marriage. Why is social so pissed off?

    Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh appeared on the Koffee With Karan show and unleashed a social media storm. Their one hour long talk featured some incredibly wholesome revelations while the two were cozying together on the couch.

    Ranveer recalled that he was blown away when he saw the actress walk into a room. Karan broke the formality of the interview to confess how their strong love and commitment made him feel lonely because he wanted the same.

    A viral clip showed Deepika talking about the begining of their relationship, confessing that the two were casually dating. Deepika and Ranveer met at Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s house, while prepping for the shoot of ‘Ram-Leela’. The ‘Piku’ actress confessed she had just gotten out of an abusive relationship that traumatised her, and she didn’t want to commit to another one. So the two actors casually dated, since Deepika was not ready for something serious after her failed relationships.

    But social media went off on a tirade, labelling Deepika a ‘slut’, ‘toxic woman who uses men’, and also saying that the two are trying to romanticise ‘open relationships’, therefore relationship standards have fallen.

    I’ll take my sweet time to explain to the nay-sayers why they’ll continue to look like losers while Deepika is laughing away with the love of her life.

    Open relationship or casually dating? Let us break down the difference

    Open relationships are when two partners who are committed to each other, choose to continue being in separate relationships with other people while remaining together. It requires both partners, who are in most cases married couples, to equally consent to the relationship and keep each other in the loop about the partners in their life. Deepika and Ranveer were not in a confirmed relationship at the time, so they could not have been doing this.

    Casual dating on the other hand is what gen-z calls today ‘situationship’. It’s when two people do not confirm they’re in a relationship and continue to see each other casually, while also seeing other partners. Since there was no commitment label on them, they are not cheating on each other.

    Got the difference? Now let’s unravel the misogyny behind this whole backlash to the ‘casual dating’ revalation.

    ‘Casual Dating’ say gussa hai, or the fact that a woman exercised free will to choose how she wants to live?

    A lot of the backlash surrounding this topic is pitting Deepika with her ex, Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor, and saying he would have been trolled for doing such a thing. Several users on X complained how Alia was trolled intensely for revealing Ranbir tells her not to wear lipstick, compared to the silence of feminists when Deepika admits she was casually dating.

    There is a huge difference between the two, dear reader. The backlash to Ranbir and Alia was justified by all means because it was a grown man, married to a woman ten years his junior, who was dating her while she was in her early twenties and ordering her not to wear lipstick. Had this been Alia’s personal choice, it was acceptable but the fact that she chooses not to wear it because her husband doesn’t like it, is absolutely wrong and can never be defended.

    While here are Deepika and Ranveer, two professionals who are financially independent and clearly stressed that this was a joint decision they had made, not enforced by Deepika. Several times in the interview, Ranveer says he is well aware of Deepika’s mental health state, and he did want to ensure he could help in every way he can to make his wife feel better. Therefore, them choosing to casually date would have helped Deepika heal from an abusive relationship, but most importantly this clip proved how Ranveer was ready to do everything to prove he was the right man for Deepika, and she knew that.

    But why did social media find this clip particularly triggering? Is it because of just the label ‘casually dating’ or because we can’t handle a woman taking things at her own pace? In particular, this has more to do with our culture of romanticising the ‘sati savitri’ trope of a woman who never cheats, never loves anyone but one man for the rest of her life, and most importantly, never dictates her own needs to a man. Here is Ranveer, an accomplished actor whose recent film ‘Rocky and Rani’ made millions around the world, admitting that his biggest dream was to ‘marry Deepika Padukone’ and is getting trolled for wanting his wife to take the lead in a relationship, which she was denied in her previous one.

    This is not just about casually dating. Men are foaming at the mouth about ‘cancel culture’ and ‘double standards’ because a woman spoke about taking autonomy in a relationship. Relationship standards, family system yada yada didn’t budge an inch when Alia was openly body shamed (while pregnant!) by her husband Ranbir, who was ten years older than her while she was 22 when they were dating. But only when two equal partners open up about respecting each other’s space and trauma to let them heal before they choose to committ.

    If praising Deepika and Ranveer means having lost ‘family morals’ then please let it die. Let it all go to waste. Because with how Ranveer kept consoling Deepika indirectly by rubbing her shoulder while she talked about her anxiety attacks in 2014 is getting him being trolled as a ‘run-mureed’ then okay. We’ll keep hoping more women find men like Ranveer who love them too much to listen to ‘family morals’ cynics.

  • Aurat-March lambasts Nawaz Sharif over sexist remarks

    Aurat-March lambasts Nawaz Sharif over sexist remarks

    The Karachi chapter of women’s rights movement Aurat March has taken to X (former Twitter) to criticize former Prime Minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Nawaz Sharif over his remarks delivered in a speech in Minar e Pakistan’s procession on Saturday.

    The tweet started with a sardonic tone, “Bohat Khoob”. It further criticised Nawaz Sharif for jibing at women’s politics. “He has not learnt up till now that categorising women as “good” or “bad” is a thing of ancient times.” The tweet said that raising questions over a woman’s character on the basis of dance is a “ghatiya harqat” [an extremely bad action].

    The tweets came in response to Nawaz praising the women at his rally for not dancing with the beat of drum, a thinly veiled swipe at arch rivals Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). He asked the crowd to clap for him if they understood what he implied.

    Aurat March suggested to the PML-N leader to let go of misogyny.