A tendentious tweet from Shireen Mazari on Monday left many netizens enraged — a tweet that imparted some troubling thoughts regarding the convergence between politics and women’s rights and issues.
The PTI member took to Twitter on April 4 and shared a post from Aurat March in which the movement publicly criticized the actions of Imran Khan that lead to the dissolution of the National Assembly.
“We condemn the political circus that has erupted due to the fragile masculine ego of a person who has sabotaged democratic processes just to save the perception of his individuality and to stage a dirty maneuver for his comeback to power,” announced the Aurat March on Twitter.
Mazari evidently did not like the statement made by Aurat March and replied in disagreement. “This [statement] shows Aurat March has little to do with genuine issues faced by women in Pakistan and more with politics and political agendas,” she wrote.
“Since many here have NGOs funded from abroad this statement, while condemnable, is not surprising. Fact is the US sought regime change and we do not accept it.”
As a result of Mazari’s criticism of Aurat March’s tweet, many netizens were angry. They replied to that tweet, asking why the politician seems to believe that women, and particularly movements related to women’s rights and issues, should not express political opinions.
Twittersphere lashes out at Shireen Mazari
“Aurat March should have phrased it better but you, as a woman in politics should be the last one to tweet stuff like this,” one user said. “Do women have no right to [an] opinion on political matters? Or is this the 1700s where politics is for the rich men?”
Many were also tired of “conspiracy theories” being presented as the root cause of every issue in Pakistan.
Others were disappointed to see such a tweet come from a former minister of human rights.
“Ladies and gents, the sitting (recently ex) Minister of Human Rights in Pakistan has just dismissed this country’s most organized/legitimate women-based movement,” said one user.
Several users questioned Mazari’s tweet, asserting politics is “inherently and by definition tied to genuine issues.”
Apart from the dislike people have for the Aurat March, feminism has a lot to do with politics, largely because many of the problems women face in society have political roots.
Having their voices heard in the National Assembly is an important right for women because as citizens, they are just as affected as everyone else by what happens in the assembly. No one should police opinions on matters intrinsically connected to their lives.
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