Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz has been widely criticised for her remarks in a recent presser about the alleged Punjab College case where she asserted that the allegations of rape against the girl are totally wrong by saying, “Woh bachi bilkul paak saaf hai, uske opper yeh ghalat ilzaam lagay,” implying that the concerned girl is clean or pure.
Aurat March lambasted Maryam Nawaz for rehashing the age-old concept of women being the symbol of respect for the family, and if she has been subjected to sexual assault, she has become impure, thus bringing shame to the family despite the fact she is the victim. The Karachi chapter of Aurat March mentioned in an Instagram post that a woman is a human being and not a symbol of respect. “These remarks reinforce the patriarchal belief that women’s worth is tied to supposed ‘purity’ that comes with them being sexually untouched-a rhetoric that becomes even more misogynistic when referring to the crime of rape.”
Additonally, the statement asked a pertinent question, “Are victim survivors of rape somehow ‘impure’ and ‘unclean’?”
The Aurat March statement emphasised that “Public officials should never echo the same repulsive justifications used by rapists and murderers in the name of “honour”.”
Social media user, Dr Maryam S. Khan also shared a screenshot of Maryam Nawaz’s statement and wrote, “Punjab CM believes that rape victims are not ‘paak saaf’. Tantamount to victim blaming. Whether or not the crime of rape has been committed in this case is besides the point. A woman in high public office has 0 idea what language to use for sexual assault victims.”
Another user Zahra Sabri posted, “This female “CM” spewed such toxic, anti-women cliches in today’s presser.”
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Maleeka Bokhari lambasted Punjab Chief Minister by mentioning that “a rape victim or survivors does NEVER become UNPURE because she has been raped. The shame is NEVER the survivors but that of the offender who committed this grave crime.”
Another tweeter user opined, “Did Maryam Nawaz really just, while denying the r@pe incident, say that the girl is “paak–saaf“? This society’s going to go nowhere when its own leaders view r@pe victims as na-paak. I am speechless.”
