Uproar over Pakistani minister’s outburst against woman lawmaker

Islamabad: Pakistani lawmakers on Wednesday lashed out at Defence Minister Khawaja Asif after he made “unpleasant” sexist comments about a fellow female member of the National Assembly on Wednesday.

Targeting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf leader Shireen Mazari, Asif pointed towards her and said, “Someone make this tractor trolley keep quiet” when she and other lawmakers protested against his speech on power cuts during Ramadan.

However, the minister did not stop there and also commented on her “manly voice”.

“It will be better if you first transform your masculine voice into a more feminine one,” Asif told Mazari.

Mazari later tweeted, “Told Asif if he had any “sharm or haya” [shame] he would know how to deal with women, but he was besharam and behaya [shameless]! Luckily my voice louder than his”.

The PTI leader also said the party will not keep quiet. “An ill mannered person is government’s minister. Khawaja Asif lacks morals and ethics,” she added.

Not only did Asif’s comments create chaos in the Assembly, but people from across the country took to Twitter to disapprove of his behaviour.