Talal Chaudhry sparks uproar over sexist remarks

A video has emerged of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Talal Chaudhry expressing his sexism out loud, by targeting a female politician from the rival party.

Talking to a reporter, outside the parliament, the former minister of state for interior Talal Chaudhry mocked Firdous Ashiq Awan of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) by saying that she was more a man than a woman. “If Firdous baji was to wash her face, the true person will come out from behind the makeup, meaning that instead of Firdous baji, Firdous Khan will emerge.” Awan is currently the special assistant to the prime minister for information and broadcasting.

The gendered insult prompted an uproar on social media. Soon tweets began pouring in from people across party lines.

Shireen Mazari, the federal minister of human rights, called out his “misogynist mind-set”.

Others also spoke out and demanded that he apologise.

Even PML-N’s senior leader, Ahsan Iqbal, weighed in.

Finally, Chaudhry offered an apology on social media, which sounded more like a non-apology. He wrote that “if his comments were inappropriate then he is sorry.” Interestingly, he put the word “sorry” in quotation marks.

Later in the evening, he was at it again. He referred to Awan, who was a guest on the same talk show, as a “banda” - a man.