Prime Minister Imran Khan associated a woman’s attire with potential rape case in his recent interview. The statement has created a furor on the internet with netizens being divided on their stance to the PM’s controversial remarks.
The Diyar-e-dil actor, Osman Khalid Butt took to twitter to express his views on the statement.
Prime minister Imran Khan (IK) in a recent interview with “Axios on HBO” with Jonathan Swan (JS), talked about his views on “rape” and “temptation”.
The primer’s words have hurt the sentiments of many in the country.
Here is a transcript of the part of his interview that concerns rape and his views on “If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on men, unless they are robots.”
JS: You were asked about the epidemic of sexual violence and rape in Pakistan and you acknowledged the seriousness of the problem and you spoke about Pakistan’s strict laws. You were also quoted as saying that the practice of women wearing veils “is to stop temptation not every man has willpower”. You said on increasing vulgarity, will have consequences, and you were accused of rape victim-blaming. How do you respond to that?
IK: It is such nonsense. I never said veils, this was never said. I said the concept of purdah and the concept of purdah is to avoid temptation in society. 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 to the point and all these young guys have nowhere to go, it has consequences in the society.
JS: Do you think what women wear has any effect? That this is part of that temptation?
IK: 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.
JS: But will it really provoke acts of sexual violence?
IK: It depends on which society you live in. If in a society where people haven’t seen that sort of thing, it will have an impact on them. If you grow up in a society like you, maybe it won’t on you. This cultural imperialism, whatever is in our culture, must be acceptable to everyone else, it’s not.
JS: Forgive me, when you were a cricket star, you were seen as a playboy, there were photos of you with your shirts off in your bedroom.
IK: This is not about me.
JS: You’re the messenger.
IK: It’s about my society. My priority is how my society behaves, what reactions are caused in my society. So when I see sex crimes going through the roof, we sit down and discuss how are we going to tackle this. It is having an impact on my society.
However, the premier’s comments caused an uproar on social media, prompting Pakistanis to call him out for his insensitive remarks.
This isn’t the first time PM Imran was heard expressing his views on rape.
Journalist Shahmir Sanni didn’t see the PM’s justification as legit. “Nearly every woman that has been raped in Pakistan has worn what he would prescribe as modest clothing,” he wrote.
Mosharraf Zaidi spelled it out for everyone.
So, what is the country saying about the PM? That perhaps he doesn’t understand what cultural imperialism is.
Or he [PM Khan] doesn’t realise that out of control men are the problem.
He’s [Imran Khan] a rape apologist who hates women.
Disappointed and frankly sickening to see PM Khan repeat his victim blaming regarding reasons for sexual violence in Pakistan.
People say we’re paying the price for his own guilt.
Why aren’t men offended?
The loud and persistent outcry from many people came out on Twitter yet again. Some shared their own personal experiences to make it more clear that why rape happens and why it is never okay to blame the victim.
As #RapeApologistSelectedPM trends on Twitter, the question remains, “Is our Prime Minister listening to the public’s grief? When will he stop with the victim-blaming and giving rapists a free pass? When?”
Three boys who gang-raped a 15-year-old girl and stripped her eight-year-old sister at Chak 324-JB Paira on Sunday have been arrested by the police.
As per reports, the suspects recorded the crime with a mobile phone while they failed to rape the eight-year-old girl.
A first information report (FIR) was filed with the City Police under sections 376 (2) (rape), 377-B (sexual abuse) and 292-C (child pornography) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the father of the girls.
Read More: Mufti Aziz-ur-Rehman admits he raped student, claim police
He alleged that his daughters went to a nearby forest to bring some firewood where three suspects overpowered them.
They gang-raped the elder girl, stripped the younger one and tried to rape her.
District Police Officer Rana Umer Farooq said all the three suspects have been detained while both the girls were taken to the district headquarters hospital where the women doctors confirmed that the elder girl was raped after a medical examination report.
According to Geo News, Mufti Aziz-ur-Rehman has confessed that he raped his student. He was arrested by Lahore Police on Sunday from Mianwali after a video went viral on social media in which Mufti Aziz could be seen sexually assaulting one of his madrassa (seminary) students.
According to details shared by police sources, Mufti Aziz confessed that the video was not fake and said that he was secretly filmed by his student. Mufti Aziz said after the video went viral, he panicked. He also admitted that his sons then threatened the victim. He said that he did not want to leave the madrassa, which is why he made a video denying that he raped his student after the management asked him to go.
Read more- When a Mufti rapes, why do we silence the victim?
Mufti Aziz hid in Township, Sheikhupura and Faisalabad with the help of some of his students but was found in Mianwali as his phone was being traced along with his sons.
In an interview with “Axios on HBO” with Jonathan Swan, which aired at 3am PST on Monday morning, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that “if a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men, unless they are robots”.
Prime Minister Khan discussed various issues in his interview with Axios’ Swan ranging from US withdrawal from Afghanistan to Pak-US relationship, Uyghur Muslims in China and sexual violence in Pakistan.
Rape and sexual violence
Swan asked PM Khan about his previous comments pertaining to rape and vulgarity, PM said that it is “such nonsense”.
“I said that the concept of purdah is avoid temptation in the society. We don’t have discos here, we don’t have night clubs, so it is a completely different society, way of life here. So if you raise temptation in the society to the point and all these young guys have nowhere to go, it has consequences in the society.”
Swan asked: “Do you think that what women wear has any affect, that that’s part of this temptation?”
“If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men, unless they are robots. I mean it’s common sense,” replied PM.
Swan asked if this would provoke acts of sexual violence, to which PM Khan responded, “It depends which society you live in. If in a society, people haven’t seen that sort of thing, it will have an impact on them. If you grow up in a society like you, maybe it won’t on you. This cultural imperialism, whatever is in our culture must be acceptable to everyone else. It’s not.”
“Jonathan, it’s about my society. My priority is how my society behaves, what reactions are caused in my society so when I see sex crime going through the roof, we sit down, we discuss how we are going to tackle this. It is having an impact in my society. We have to do something about it.”
US withdrawal from Afghanistan
Axios’ Swan asked PM Khan if he was happy that the US military is finally withdrawing from Afghanistan after 20 years. PM said, “Happy in one way because there was never going to be a military solution in Afghanistan. Anxious that they [the US] are leaving without a political settlement, there is a possibility of civil war.” When asked what would a political settlement look like, PM said that a political settlement in Afghanistan “would mean a sort of a coalition government, a government from the Taliban side and the other side. There is no other solution”.
Swan asked if PM Khan thinks the Americans made a mistake by saying they are getting out by September 11. The PM said they got themselves in such a big mess that they had to give some sort of timeframe. “But the moment they gave a timeframe, Taliban would have considered that a victory.” PM was asked how he felt about the prospect of the Taliban effectively controlling Afghanistan and if he is happy to welcome them into the community of nations. “As far as Pakistan is concerned, whoever represents the people of Afghanistan, we will deal with them.”
Swan asked what if they were not democratically elected and does it not concern you on some level that this group of people is accumulating power right next door to you. PM Imran Khan said, “Look, I am not a spokesman for Taliban. For me to say, you know what they are doing or what they shouldn’t be doing is pointless. In case Taliban go for an all-out victory, there is going to be incredible amount of bloodshed. And let me tell you, the country that is going to suffer the most after Afghanistan is going to be Pakistan. We already have three million Afghan refugees here. And this could lead to another exodus so that is our biggest concern. The Americans, before they leave, there must be a settlement.”
Relationship with the United States
Swan asked PM Imran Khan why the American CIA Director Bill Burns made an unannounced visit to Islamabad. “Ever since 9/11, there’s constantly been in touch between our intelligence agencies.” PM Khan said he did not meet the CIA director but the head of ISI met him.
Swan said that the Americans want to have their spies and special forces based in Pakistan to keep an eye on what is happening across the border. To a question if he will allow the American government to have CIA here in Pakistan to conduct cross-border counterterrorism missions against al-Qaeda, ISIS or the Taliban, PM Khan emphatically said, “Absolutely not.” The host interjected and asked: “Seriously?”
“There is no way we will allow any bases, any sort of action from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan. Absolutely not. Pakistan suffered 70,000 casualties, more than any other country by joining the American war. We cannot afford any more military actions from our territory. We will be partners in peace, not in conflict,” added Khan.
Swan said that the American military is discussing doing airstrikes potentially to support the Afghan forces against the Taliban. “Would you allow the American Airforce to use your air space for those airstrikes?”
“We are not going to be part of any conflict anymore,” replied Khan.
But you haven’t decided yet whether you will let them use your airspace, asked Swan again. PM Khan said this has not been discussed at all. “Why would the Americans be using bombing Afghanistan after it hasn’t worked for 20 years, why will it work again?”
Kashmir resolution
PM Khan said he has not spoken to US President Joe Biden since he took office. “Whenever he has time, he can speak to me. But at the moment, clearly he has other priorities.” When asked what would he say to Biden when he does meet him, PM said: “The US has a big responsibility as the most powerful nation in the world. Almost 1.4 billion people are living in the subcontinent. We are held hostage to one dispute in Kashmir. A disputed territory. According to the United Nations Security Council resolutions, there should have been a plebiscite for the people of Kashmir to decide about their own future. That has never taken place. It’s festering. If the Americans have the resolve, the will, it can be sorted out.”
Nuclear weapons
Prime Minister Khan that the purpose of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons “is not an offensive thing”. He said that any country that has a neighbour seven times the size as Pakistan has, “would be worried”. PM Khan said he is “completely against nuclear arms. I always have been”. Ever since the nuclear deterrence, Pakistan and India have not been to war despite three wars in the past. “We have border skirmishes but we have never faced war. The moment there is a settlement on Kashmir, I believe the two neighbours will live as civilised people. We will not need to have these nuclear deterrence.”
Uyghur Muslims in China
Swan asked PM Khan why he does not speak about Uyghurs in China when he is so vocal about Islamophobia in the west.
“What our conversations have been with the Chinese, this is not the case according to them. Whatever issues we have with the Chinese, we speak to them behind closed doors. China has been one of the greatest friends to us in our most difficult times. When we were really struggling, our economy was struggling, China came to our rescue so we respect the way they are,” said PM Khan. He also questioned why the people of Kashmir are ignored and how this is hypocrisy.
“Am I going to start talking about everything? I concentrate on what is happening on my border, in my country…that concerns me more.”
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.
A father who went to register a complaint of his daughter’s abduction and rape was forced to wash the room of the Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) in Kasur.
As per reports, a 16-year-old girl was abducted and raped in the Mandi Usmanwala area of Kasur police station.
The girl’s father bribed ASI Irfan and made several other efforts to file a case against his daughter’s kidnappers. But instead of taking any legal action against the accused, the police officer forced the girl’s father to wash the floor of his room.
The video of the father washing the ASI’s room did rounds on social media after which DPO Kasur took the notice of the incident. The ASI was suspended and an inquiry has been ordered against him.
Pakistani celebrities have taken to social media and demanded justice for Sunita Masih, a 14-year-old Christian girl gang-raped in Faisalabad.
As per details, Sunita was abducted and gang-raped. She was allegedly asked to convert to Islam and when she refused, they cut her hair and tortured her sensitive body parts.
“Feeling sick to the stomach. With each new case, humanity plunges deeper and deeper into a dreary, dark pit,” wrote Adnan Siddiqui while addressing this incident on Twitter.
Siddiqui questioned: “Why are we turning into morally depraved monsters? Abhorrent!”
Armeena Rana Khan said: “Sunita Masih, a Christian girl from Faisalabad, aged just 14 has allegedly been gang raped. She was asked to recite the Kalma. When she refused her hair was shaved off. So, lots of activism for the innocents elsewhere, great but how about raising our voices here too?”
“Appalled. Speechless,” said Faysal Quraishi. “Assailants of such crimes should be granted the highest form of punishment so that they can be an example for all those who even think of committing such atrocious crimes.”
Actor and television host Nadia Jamil took to social media and said: “I urge all of us on media to protect the dignity of the child Sunita Masih by blurring her face. It will cause further trauma to her to be b exposed.”
“I plea to Imran Khan to ensure she is provided physical/mental health care immediately and to see that the perpetrators are arrested, punished,” she appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan .
In another tweet, Jamil requested PM Imran to look at the case of the 14-year-old. “She needs care 4 her physical wounds and mental health. She needs her face protected. She is too young to be exposed publicly by media. Perpetrators should be arrested immediately amd punished as soon as possible,” wrote Jamil.
“Deleted my previous tweet, instead of sharing the victims picture,” said comedian and host Shafaat Ali.
“This is just shameful and unbelievably inhumane. We cannot let minorities and CHILDREN suffer these atrocities for reasons which are incomprehensible. We need implementation of law and strict punishments so we can put an end to this nonsense once and for all,” wrote Hassan Sheheryar on Twitter.
Ushna Shah also addressed the incident, while sharing Armeena Rana’s tweet on her Instagram stories, she said: “Apna girehbaann quite soiled.”
Alizeh Shah also condemned this act of brutality, saying: “I don’t know where these people are heading to by doing such sinful acts.”
“Rape culprits k law ka kya bana? Implementation ka kya hua,” questioned Maryam Nafees.
Zoya Nasir apologised from Sunita for “what these monsters” dis to her.
Many other social media users have also strongly condemned this inhumane treatment to the teenager and demanded immediate action from the government against the accused.
According to reports, data released by a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) Sahil, eight children are abused every day in Pakistan in one form or the other, while 51 per cent of the victims are girls and 49 per cent boys.
Lady Gaga has opened up about being raped and left pregnant when she was only 19.
Speaking on the first episode of Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey’s The Me You Can’t See series featuring mental health issues, Gaga revealed she was raped at the age of 19 by a music producer who threatened to burn her music if she refused to undress.
“I was 19 years old, and I was working in the business, and a producer said to me, ‘Take your clothes off,’” she recalled. “I said no and I left, and they told me they were going to burn all of my music. And they didn’t stop.”
“They didn’t stop asking me, and I just froze and I… I don’t even remember,” she added.
Months later, the sexually assaulted singer was left pregnant without any support from the harasser.
“I [couldn’t] feel my own body,” she recalled. “First I felt full-on pain, then I felt numb, and then I was sick for weeks after.”
“I realised that it was the same pain that I felt when the person who raped me dropped me off pregnant on a corner, at my parents’ house, because I was vomiting and sick. Because I had been being abused, and I was locked away in a studio for months,” shared Gaga.
The singer burst into tears when describing that the trauma hit her years later when she won an Oscar Award in 2019. Gaga said that she experienced a “total psychotic break” because of her delayed traumatised response.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, refused to name her perpetrator.
“I understand this #MeToo movement, I understand that some people feel really comfortable with this, and I do not,” said the singer. “I do not ever want to face that person again.”
Lady Gaga is one of the stars to be featured in The Me You Can’t See series which is co-produced by Harry and Oprah and airs exclusively on Apple TV+.
ابھی ایک ہفتہ پہلے میری والدہ کو کورونا ویکیسنیشن کی دوسری خوراک لگی ۔ پہلی خوراک والے دن میں کافی گھبرائی ہوئی تھی کہ پتا نہیں کیسے ہوگی ، سینٹر پر کیا حال ہوگا ،لوگ کتنے ہونگے وغیرہ وغیرہ ۔ جب میں سینٹر پر پہنچی تو لوگوں کا جمِ غفیر نظر آیا ۔ زندگی میں پہلی بار اتنے لوگوں کو ٹیکہ لگوانے کی خوشی تھی ۔ مجھے اندازہ نہیں تھا کہ کام شروع کیسے ہوگا ۔ اسی دوران میں نے کسی سے پوچھا جو کورونا سینٹر کے نمائندہ ہی تھے ۔ انہوں نے کہا آپ میرے ساتھ آ جائیں ۔ میں آپ کا کام کروا دیتا ہوں ۔ انہوں نے دس منٹ میں فارم جمع کروا کرآخری مرحلے تک کام کروا دیا ۔ میں نے پیسے دینے چاہے تو انہوں نے کہا “میں انسانیت کے ناتے کر رہا تھا، پیسے رکھئے” ۔ ساتھ ہی انہوں نے نمبر دیا کہ اگلی خوراک پر رابطہ کیجئے گا اورمیرا نمبر بھی مانگ لیا ۔ میں نے سمجھا خدا سے کوئی غیبی مدد آئی ہے اور خدا کا شکر ادا کیا ۔
میرا شکر البتہ دو تین دن بعد” چلو جی “میں بدلا جب ان ہی صاحب نے اِدھر اُدھر کے میسج کرنے شروع کر دیئے ۔ جب وہ باز نہ آئے، تو میں نے جھوٹ کہہ دیا کہ میں شادی شدہ ہوں میرے خاوند جی میرا فون چیک کرتے ہیں ۔ اس کے دو دن بعد میری والدہ کی ویکسینیشن تھی ۔ میں نے موصوف سے رابطہ کیا کہ مدد مل سکتی ہے ؟ جس پر انہوں نے کہا “جی مشکل ہے” ۔ میرا نقلی خاوند تو میرا دشمن نکلا ! میرے نقلی خاوند کی وجہ سے موصوف کی انسانیت ہی ختم ہو گئی؟ کیا فائدہ ایسے نقلی خاوند کا ؟
میں نے یہ واقعہ ٹویٹر پر لکھا تو ایک شخص نے لکھا ” ہاں تو نمبر دیا تھا ، تو بھگتو اب” ۔ اور مجھے تب احساس ہوا کہ اوہو! غلطی تو میری ہی تھی ۔ چونکہ میں عورت ہوں ، اس لئے غلطی تو ہمیشہ میری ہی ہوگی ۔ چونکہ نمبر عورت کا تھا ، مرد تو بہکے گا ! اسی ہفتے میں پاکستان کے وزیرِاعظم عمران خان نے بھی مجھے احساس دلا دیا کہ غلطی تو میری تھی، ہے اور رہے گی کیونکہ میں عورت ہوں ۔ عمران خان نے اپنے خطاب میں زور دیا کہ ملک میں جنسی زیادتی کو روکنے کے لئے ضروری ہے کہ انگریزوں کے رسم و رواج کوختم کیا جائے ۔ اور پھر دبے دبے الفاظ اور پولے پولے منہ سے کہہ دیا کہ جب عورتیں پردہ نہیں کرتی تو بہت سے مردوں سے کنٹرول نہیں ہوتا اور پھر وہ جنسی زیادتی پر “مجبور” ہو جاتے ہیں۔
زمانے بھر کے غم اور مرد کی یہ “مجبوری!” اس دنیا نے مرد کا جینا حرام کر دیا ہے۔ کیسے کیسے “مجبور” کیا ہے۔ کیسا کیسا امتحان لیا ہے ۔ کبھی مرد “مجبور” ہو کر اپنے ہی گھر کی عورت سے جنسی زیادتی کر دیتا ہے اور کبھی “مجبور” ہو کر موٹر وے پر ایک ماں کو اُس کے بچوں کے سامنے اپنی جنسی ہوس کا شکار کرتا ہے ، کبھی مرد “مجبور” ہوکر رشتے سے انکار کرنے والی عورت سے بدلہ لینے کے لئے اسے اپنی ہوس کا شکار بنا دیتا ہے، اور کبھی مرد عوت کا ناک، کان، بازو کا کچھ حصۤہ ، ہاتھوں کی انگلیاں، پیر ، آنکھیں، بال ، ہونٹ، جو بھی حصہ نظر آ جائے ، اس سے “مجبور” ہو کر عورت کو اپنی ہوس کا شکار بنا دیتا ہے ۔ اور “مجبوری” ادھر رکتی نہیں۔ مرد 3 سال کے لڑکے کو بھی دیکھ کر “مجبور” ہو جاتا ہے ۔ مرد ایک “مجبوری ” کا مجسمہ ہے جسے کب کیا دکھ جائے اور جو دکھ رہا ہو وہ کس طرح اس کو جنسی زیادتی پر “مجبور” کر دے ، آپ کو کبھی نہیں پتہ چلے گا ۔ کیا انہی “مجبوریوں” کی بات کر رہے تھے آپ،وزیرِاعظم صاحب؟
وزیرِ اعظم صاحب ! عورت ہونے کو جرم نہ بنائیں ۔ عورت کے کپڑوں کو مردں کی درندگی چھپانے کے لئے استعمال نہ کریں ۔ مرد جوصدیوں سے جنسی درندگی کو طاقت کے حربے کے طور پر استعمال کرتاہے۔ کبھی حالتِ جنگ میں اور کبھی عورت کو “مزہ” چکھانے کے لئے ، اسے عورت کے لباس میں چھپانے کی کوشش نہ کریں ۔وزیرِاعظم صاحب! وہ کون سے کپڑے ہیں جو مدرسے کے لڑکوں کو ان “مجبور” مردوں کے شر سے نہ بچا سکے ؟وہ کون سے کپڑے ہیں جو 3 سال کی بچیوں کو مردوں سے بچا نہ سکے؟
وزیرِ اعظم صاحب ! کبھی نظر جھکا کر دیکھیں ، کبھی نظر ہٹا کر دیکھیں ، کبھی اپنے نفس پر قابو کر کے دیکھیں ۔۔۔ پھر نہ آپ کو کسی کے کپڑوں سے شکایت ہوگی اور نہ آپ “مجبور” ہوں گے ۔