On August 1, 2017, Ayesha Gulalai Wazir decided to give up her membership from the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf. She alleged that she faced ‘harassment’ at the hands of the Chairman, Imran Khan, adding that “a respectable female worker cannot remain in the party”. The backlash that ensued was massive, but not something that this country hasn’t witnessed before.
In 2012, Shireen Mazari decided to resign from the party, offering similar reasons – that the “feudal ‘sardar’” membership of the party clashed with her ethics and was “disappointing”. In the same vein, Mazari’s own daughter, Imaan, also decided to resign from the party after “being called a prostitute”. It establishes that PTI has a history of mistreating dissenting female members. Thus, it is surprising that when Shireen Mazari, who rejoined the party in 2013, decided to hold an all-women press conference immediately after Gulalai stepped up with her claims, it was not to ask for a probe into her allegations. Rather, Mazari snubbed Gulalai for defaming the party, falsifying her allegations.
Taking into consideration the fact that Mazari’s own daughter had been “subjected to filthy abuse” by PTI members, it is highly contradictory of her to claim that Ayesha Gulalai is simply an opportunist and that there is no need to look further into the matter. Instead, one would have hoped that Mazari expressed more empathy for Gulalai and taken her claims seriously.
Pakistan has a history of misogynistic rhetoric against women in the public sphere – Gulalai herself has faced backlash from the general public where she was called a liar, trying to obtain “cheap publicity.” Some even went so far as to say that acid should be thrown on her. A woman speaking out about harassment almost always begets violence, which is why they don’t come forward.
Earlier in July, Imaan Mazari made headlines when images of her partying in London were circulated online. Not surprisingly, people took to Twitter and Facebook to slut-shame her and “condemn” her behaviour. Imaan Mazari decided to address the hate with the following: “It’ll never stop & I get it. It comes with the territory. Women are constantly objectified, used & abused all over the world to settle some messed up point-scoring agenda.” She left the party in 2012 when she faced an ideology clash with PTI politics – she said she could “tolerate criticism regarding (her) work” but her ultimate decision to leave was due to the abuse and “character assassination” that she faced. It goes without saying that all women are stuck under the moral-policing burden of the patriarchy.
Is Gulalai right about the fact that we only react about matters like this when it happens to our own mothers, daughters and sisters? I think so, because Shireen Mazari only spoke up about the party’s inability to resolve matters in a more cordial fashion when it came to her own daughter:
“Sadly, instead of resolving the issue amicably, your social media and their ‘trolls’ chose to use filthy abuses against my daughter which compelled her to leave the party.” (Shireen Mazari’s resignation letter)
Shireen Mazari went on to ask why Gulalai was coming up with her allegations now – four years ago when her daughter was facing harassment from party workers, she said “There are limits to everyone’s patience”, which is what led to her resignation. Gulalai also said something similar – that her patience had been spread too thinly which is why she decided to speak up about the harassment she was facing.
Is it then too much to ask that Shireen Mazari expresses a little bit of sympathy to Gulalai’s case instead of snubbing her and being part of the same group that turns its back on a woman who has been wronged?
That is why our religion ask us to avoid intermingling.
You violate the principle and see the result. Party and profession is not important.
Comments are closed.