Daily Times

A very dangerous trend is emerging worldwide with politicians resorting to insulting and belittling language about women to score political points on the cheap and burnish their ‘populist’ credentials by appealing to the worst elements of their constituencies. There is often a sort of misogynistic camaraderie being hinted at, with almost a wink and a nod, as was evident from US President Trump’s bragging about his attitude towards women. Unfortunately, Pakistani politics is very much a part of this global deficit in basic decency.

In Pakistan too, just like the rest of the world, the rise of a renewed conservative populism has coincided with a certain toxic masculinity amongst male populations. Let us consider a few recent instances of this unfortunate phenomenon.

Most recent would be the flurry of misogynistic public statements set off after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself kicked it off, with his derogatory remarks about PTI demonstrations and the participation of women therein. Such references and such attitudes are utterly deplorable from anyone, but particularly so when coming from the elected head of government. Just a few days earlier, the leader of the opposition, Khursheed Shah, had resorted to an old misogynistic trope about women, referring to his female colleagues while in Parliament, saying that they would ‘fall ill’ if they did not talk a lot. He also recently went on record saying that the Prime Minister ought to send his daughter Maryam Nawaz back to the kitchen. A few weeks earlier, we had the appalling spectacle of PML-N member of parliament Javed Latif taking aim at the sisters of PTI leader Murad Saeed in public. Now with the latest episode of distasteful remarks coming from the Prime Minister himself, the PTI’s social media warriors, not to be left behind in such behaviour, quickly launched into their own barrage of disgusting insinuations and comments about Maryam Nawaz, the Prime Minister’s daughter. Unfortunately, a horde of Twitter accounts with political leanings supportive of the security establishment have often spearheaded such social media offensives against prominent women in politics, often intersecting with the PTI’s own cyber warriors.

A few points are in order here. First, that the PML-N leaders should stop promoting their backward vision of society by taking aim at PTI rallies and the visible role of women therein. Second, that the PTI and its partisans would do well to refrain from behaviour that does not behoove a party that is already being targeted by ultra-conservative political forces for opening its public events to urban women. Third, that social media warriors of all stripes should realise that their criticism of ‘dynastic’ politics and Maryam Nawaz’s role therein is quite understandable, but their moralistic insinuations, slurs and abuse are not acceptable in a civilised society. And last, that politicians from across the political spectrum have of late been engaged in scoring political points on the cheap by taking aim at women from rival political forces — or just women in general. This disgusting practice must stop right away. *