Dubai: For the first time in the history of Pakistan, a woman parliamentarian arrived with her baby boy to attend the parliament session in Islamabad.
Mehreen Razzaq Bhutto of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from Sindh province, brought her child to parliament on Wednesday to highlight issues facing working mothers in the country.
She called on the government to set up day care centres at workplaces for children so that working women could perform their duties diligently.
Mehreen told reporters outside the National Assembly building of Pakistan that she left her child in the women’s waiting area to attend the session.
She said though there was a plan to make a children’s nursery in parliament, but ‘that has become a distant dream for us’ as the government has not taken initiative. She said that all government departments and private offices should build nurseries for the children of their women employees as this will not only improve their performance, but also give them peace of mind.
“I have no one to take care of my child at home, so I brought him with me today,” said Mehreen, who has been elected on a reserve seat for women. Photographs and videos of Mehreen with her child was aired by Geo TV on Wednesday.
Mehreen has been advocate of women’s rights in Pakistan and has been striving for women’s empowerment at different platforms.
According to her, many women die during childbirth in rural areas of Pakistan every day because of the absence of quality health care services.
“There is a need to sensitise men on gender issues as well so that they know how to treat women,” she had said in an earlier statement.
A total of 69 women, including 60 on reserved seats for women and nine elected, are part of the 342 member of the National Assembly of Pakistan.
