Defence Minister comes under fire on Tuesday for terming PTI’s female Parliamentarians “leftovers” of Imran Khan in the joint session of the Parliament.
“This is the leftovers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief which has to be cleaned,” the minister said while pointing towards the benches where multiple female PTI Parliamentarians were seated.
The situation escalated when PTI’s women parliamentarians protested against Asif’s remarks and demanded the National Assembly Speaker, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, to expunge the derogatory term from the records. Responding to their demands, Speaker Ashraf promptly expunged the offensive language from the official records.
Senator Dr Zarqa Taimur, a member of the PTI, described Asif’s comments as “shocking” and expressed her disappointment that a seasoned politician would resort to such offensive language about fellow female politicians.
This is not the first time Khawaja Asif has been embroiled in controversy over inappropriate remarks targeting female politicians. In a past incident on June 8, 2016, during a debate in the lower house of Parliament, Asif directed derogatory comments towards former PTI leader Shireen Mazari, referring to her as a “tractor trolley.” He further suggested that she should modify her “masculine voice” to sound more feminine.
Anchorperson Absa Komal took to Twitter to criticize the Defence Minister, highlighting that this is not the first instance where Asif has used derogatory language about female politicians on the parliamentary floor.
Similarly, PTI’s Senator Fawzia Arshad condemned Asif’s behavior and expressed her dismay, stating that the remarks comparing PTI parliament members to garbage reveal the Minister’s “degenerate thought.”
