Dressing and rape, sexual abuse have nothing to do with each other: Bilawal responds to PM Imran Khan

• Such crimes [of sexual nature] should not be linked to a single cause, says Bilawal.
• Bilawal wants people to stand in solidarity with those subjected to sexual violence.
• Bilawal lashes out at PM Imran Khan for his comments on Osama bin Laden. 

ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that the clothes a woman wears or the way she dresses, has nothing to do with the sexual violence she is subjected to. 

The PPP leader was responding to PM Imran Khan's comments from a few days ago, in which he had spoken about the rise in cases of sexual violence in Pakistani society. 

In an interview with Axios's Johnathan Swan, PM Imran Khan had said: "If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on men .... Unless they're robots. I mean, it's common sense."

"Yes, but will it really provoke acts of sexual violence?" asked Swan.

"It depends which society you live in," answered PM Imran Khan. "If in a society, people haven't seen that sort of a thing, it will have an impact on them," he added.

The PPP chairman, speaking to media at the Parliament Tuesday, said the prime minister's remarks were "disappointing". Bilawal called on people to stand with victims of rape and sexual abuse.

"Such crimes should not be linked to a single cause ... the clothes of a person have no link with rape or abuse," he said. 

PM Imran Khan a 'coward', says PPP chairperson

Bilawal delved into the prime minister's statement, stressing that the law for those found guilty of sexual abuse and rape should be the same. 

"Imran Khan's statements before and after coming into power are different .... He was a coward since day one," said the PPP leader. 

He focused his attention to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's recent remarks during an interview, when he was asked to clarify whether he thought slain al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was a martyr or not. 

"Imran Khan is not ready to term Ehsanullah Ehsan — a TTP militant who was involved in the APS attack — a terrorist," he said. 

"Osama bin Laden tried to attack then prime minister [Benazir Bhutto] in 1993 through Ramzi Yousef," he said, adding: "Doesn't Imran Khan know that bin Laden tried to revolt in the name of Islam in 1994?"

'If bin Laden isn't a terrorist, then who is?'

The PPP chairperson wondered whether the prime minister knew that bin Laden was involved in terrorist activities across the globe. 

"If bin Laden isn't a terrorist, then who is?" he asked.

Bilawal said recalled that bin Laden was the person who portrayed Islam in a negative light. He said that Islam is a peaceful religion, urging PM Imran Khan to review his policy. 

FM Qureshi on PM Imran Khan's OBL statement

Bilawal's comments on OBL were in response to an interview with TOLO news, where Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said PM Imran Khan's comments on bin Laden were taken out of context.

"Prime Minister Imran Khan called Osama bin Laden a martyr," said TOLO news journalist, Lotfullah Najafizada.

"Well, uh, again, out of context. Out of context," responded the foreign minister, after a brief pause. "He [PM Imran Khan] was quoted out of context. And, uh, you know, a particular section of the media played it up," he added.

"Is he a martyr? You disagree? Osama bin Laden?" asked Najafizada.

"I will let that pass," responded Qureshi, after another brief pause.