Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s chief whip in the National Assembly, Shireen Mazari, has served Defence Minister Khawaja Asif with a legal notice for ‘sexist and derogatory remarks’ and has demanded Rs 100 million for ‘grave mental torture’ and a public apology on Wednesday.
The legal notice further adds that the comments were passed by Asif when ‘she and some other lawmakers protested to his speech on load shedding in Ramzan’.
“This remark was not only transmitted live, but has also formed headlines of every newspaper and news channel since then,” added the legal notice sent.
The legal notice stated the comments passed by the defence minister are wholly discriminatory and bigoted as Mazari was specifically singled out because of her gender and is a malicious attempt to disparage her well earned reputation.
The legal notice alleges that Asif’s remarks were a malicious attempt to harass and intimidate Mazari to impede her from scrutinising law, for which she is widely know.
Earlier, Asif issued a letter of apology to the National Assembly speaker and also said in a speech that he “felt compelled” to make the remarks.
Asif, tendering an “unconditional apology to the house” for his remarks said, “It was not my intention to ruin the decorum but I was not being allowed to complete my speech, which compelled me to say those things.”
Asif had submitted an apology letter to National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, which the latter read out in the house.
But Mazari, not accepting the gesture as an apology, had said Asif should come to the house himself and apologise personally.