Islamabad
\nWomen from the opposition PTI protested in a joint session of Parliament on Tuesday after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif used sexist and derogatory remarks while referring to them \u2014 in yet another instance of using offensive language for women politicians.
\nHe made the remarks in response to criticism by parliamentarians \u2014 including PTI Senator Ali Zafar \u2014 of the manner of legislation in Parliament and the \u201cbulldozing\u201d of bills.
\nIn his address, Asif made a reference to former prime minister Imran Khan, recalling the bulldozing of legislation and the dissolution of the National Assembly during his tenure.
\n\u201cDepraved women should not lecture on chastity,\u201d he said, following which a woman was heard responding to him in the live broadcast on the session.
\nTo that, Asif said if he says anything else, they would use the \u201cwoman card\u201d. \u201cThey will say, \u2019We are women and how he is talking about us.\u201d
\nAt this point, laughter was heard in the House.
\nAsif then went on to call the women parliamentarians the \u201cremains\u201d and \u201cruins\u201d of Imran, pointing towards the benches where PTI members were seated, including Senators Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur, Sania Nishtar, Falak Naz Chitrali and Fawzia Arshad.
\n\u201cThis is the garbage left behind\u201d by the PTI chief, \u201cwhich has to be cleaned\u201d, he added.
\nThis drew a strong reaction from the PTI women parliamentarians who stood up from their seats and demanded that Asif take his words back.
\nAmid loud protest from them, the defence minister continued with his address, saying, \u201cHe (Imran) doesn\u2019t have the courage to appear in courts today \u2026 And they defend him. How brave and courageous will be a person who is defended by women?\u201d
\nSpeaking after Asif, Senator Taimur said only one\u2019s moral character and conduct differentiated people.
\n\u201cI was worried at the language being used by such senior political figures, I\u2019ve never heard such words in my house.\u201d
\nShe said it was \u201csad\u201d that fellow MNAs had used words such as \u201cgarbage\u201d and \u201cbarking\u201d.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t respect someone else when we don\u2019t consider our own self to be respectable,\u201d Taimur added.
\nFor his part, the NA speaker called for order in the House and the word \u201cgarbage\u201d was expunged from Asif\u2019s speech.
\nThere was no strong condemnation of the remarks during the session from any of the members apart from those belonging to the PTI.
\nNotably, PPP\u2019s Sherry Rehman was sitting just a row behind Asif and remained busy conversing with Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar for the most part and laughed at one point. However, it was not clear whether she was laughing at Asif\u2019s remarks.
\nMaking this observation, PTI\u2019s Farrukh Habib questioned why Rehman and other women MNAs from the treasury benches stayed silent at Asif\u2019s remarks.
\nHe also called out Asif for repeatedly being offensive towards women.
\nMeanwhile, the PTI termed the remarks \u201cabsolutely shameful\u201d.
\nThe party said in a statement that the defence minister\u2019s remarks were a a clear attempt to \u201cdepoliticise women\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad Women from the opposition PTI protested in a joint session of Parliament on Tuesday after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif used sexist and derogatory remarks while referring to them \u2014 in yet another instance of using offensive language for women politicians. He made the remarks in response to criticism by parliamentarians \u2014 including PTI Senator […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2867],"class_list":{"0":"post-345393","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-khawaja-asif"},"yoast_head":"\n