Dear Prime Minister! You have been divinely ordained, to be our head of state, and to be accountable for it, on the day of Judgment. Prophet Muhammad (saw) said, “On the Day of Judgment, a just ruler would be one of the seven under the shade of Allah, when there would be no shade.” (Sahih Al Bukhari 660) You refer to the state of Madina when you address the nation, as your political journey was a quest for justice. The state of Madina reached its zenith under Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) whose rule was the epitome of justice. Upon his appointment, Umar bin Khattab had famously said, “I will continue to be rough and harsh on the people of oppression and transgression, and will put their cheeks into the dirt.” I am one of those over whom you have been appointed qawwal (caretaker/protector) and I have experienced misbehavior, theft, and injustice at the hands of the state postal service. My attempts to seek redressal have been unsuccessful. My gender is the raison d’etre of the misconduct by the postal department at all levels. I am a western-educated academic, freelance journalist, and internationally published author, yet I was not spared misogynistic oppression. This attitude of women not being taken seriously, despite their professional and personal standing is commonplace in Pakistan. Every woman faces it, and this is what compels us to approach all official and business dealings with a male chaperon, as if we are minors, and not fully functional adults with rights and obligations. My case began with misbehaviour, overcharging and a criminal breach of trust (theft of books) by a public servant and his absconding supervisor on duty Islam gives rights of legal personhood to a woman. The rights being: to pursue an education; to earn a livelihood; to vote; to undertake contracts in our name; to inherit assets; to engage in litigation; to sell and buy property and to approach government offices for official matters. These rights are granted by the Supreme Divine Authority, Allah SWT. They are hence to be guaranteed by the Islamic state. Harassment, disrespect, and subversion are behaviors that negate the above-mentioned rights in spirit, even if they exist on paper. Such behaviors have become the norm because Pakistani men consider women as inherently inferior. This misogynistic attitude has been strengthened by the religious community who erroneously stated that a woman must stay home 24/7/365 and she should be excluded from public space. Hence when women enter public space, they are persecuted. The Quran unequivocally negates this view as only two specific categories of women are commanded to stay at home. The wives of the prophet, being the first category (Quran 33:32-33), and women whose immoral conduct has been testified by four eyewitnesses, (4:15) being the second. Common women are hence included in public space and granted the freedom of movement by Allah SWT. Our clergy even objects to women entering a sacred space such as the masjid (mosque), whereas the Caliph Umar bin Khattab constructed a special entrance for women, in the masjid, demonstrating gender sensitivity 1,400 years ago, when the feminist west, was living in the dark ages. Western nations and East Asian nations (Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, etc.) fare much better in terms of attitudes towards women. These nations made possible what Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (saw) had once predicted for the world of Islam when he said to Adi bin Hatim, “If you live long enough, you will surely see a lady in a howdah travel from Hira till they circumambulate the Ka’ba, fearing no one except Allah” [Sahih Bukhari 3595]. In Pakistan of 2021, amongst Muslims, women are deprived of what the prophet had foretold as a sociological marker of progress. In the west, giving legal personhood to animals, corporations, foetuses, natural objects, and artificial intelligence is being debated. In Pakistan, we are denying any and all rights to half the human population on grounds of their gender. Impunity is oxygen for misogyny and its resulting atrocities. Internalized misogyny conditions women to subvert other women in collusion with men. Misogyny can only be countered through swift penal action by the state, instituted foremost within the framework of government offices. Penal action by the state also results in social conditioning. My case (complaint 90421167 dated April 19, 2021) began with misbehavior, overcharging and a criminal breach of trust (theft of books) by a public servant and his absconding supervisor on duty. Complaints led to inaction and inappropriate behavior by the inquiry officers. These state employees were unprofessional in conduct. I never demanded any financial compensation and had only requested for the recovery of my books. I then repeatedly approached the postmaster general of Karachi who assigned the case to the divisional superintendent who called me to aggressively victim blame and bully me. Her behavior was completely unprofessional and lacking civility. The case was instantly dismissed by her on grounds of a lack of evidence. My witness was never contacted, because the sham inquiry was a fait accompli. The victim-blaming and bullying by a public servant has compelled me to pen an open letter to the PM, in the hopes of making this case a landmark case that spearheads a paradigm shift in the way business is conducted within the public sector organizations. I request that the Pakistan post website be updated to be more user-friendly and interactive, whereby information can be easily obtained about the various ways of registering, insuring, and sending parcels, etc. Informed customers can guard against misbehavior, misleading information being given by staff to commit fraud as in my case, theft and overcharging. Audio and video guide clips can be uploaded for the benefit of the illiterate population. This would also greatly reduce the average customer engagement time for clerks-who are the customer interface- resulting in greater efficiency. Training of post office staff viz-a-viz public dealing must be initiated along the lines of online retailer’s customer service staff. After all, a state employee must act better than an uncouth street vendor. Gender sensitivity should be stressed in that training, to initiate a zero-tolerance policy for misogyny within state institutions. Any state employee found engaging in verbal harassment, misbehavior, inappropriate behavior, fraud, theft, or aiding and abetting such actions by another employee through any means, must be promptly dismissed from service. Representing the Pakistan government, I witnessed the public sector in Singapore winning quality awards, which is an attestation of their performance excellence. Our public sector can also deliver but we will achieve nothing if the will is lacking. The will to change can only be revived through swift penal action. The People’s Republic of China can execute public sector mega projects due to their strict penal action against non-performing and corrupt public sector employees. This is how our brotherly nation China became a superpower. The very first Quranic revelation commanded us to “Read.” (Quran 96:1) Knowledge is now the domain of the west. My 60 books were bestselling nonfiction American titles procured at a high cost. Their theft by the post office clerk and its coverup by the PMG office has compromised my book writing projects and left me demoralized. As a female citizen, I turn to the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for justice. The writer is a columnist.