Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Senator Sherry Rehman has defended herself, saying she was not smiling at Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s crass tirade against PTI women but was pleased about the recently passed climate plan.
Taking to Twitter, Senator Sherry Rehman said that she was talking to a colleague about the National Adaptation Plan which is the country’s first. She further said that she did not pay much heed to the remarks by Khawaja Asif, thinking that it was the “usual political match”.
Senator Sherry Rehman further defended herself by saying that she was not smiling at Khawaja Asif’s remarks but was pleased about the consensus on the climate plan. If she had heard the remarks, she would have intervened.
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“Honestly, I’m sorry I was sharing some points on the passage of our National Adaptation Plan with a colleague in the National Assembly yesterday instead of listening to the noise outside House business in Parliament. I would have intervened to stop women Parliamentarians from being insulted. I did hear a tail end, but thought it was the usual political match against each other, not specific to women at all,” Sherry Rehman said.
“Of COURSE I was not smiling at the remarks. That was about how pleased I was at the consensus I got in cabinet for the climate plan, which took many nights to get done. Had I heard the remarks of course I would have intervened. My bad,” she further added.
Honestly, I’m sorry I was sharing some points on the passage of our National Adaptation Plan with a colleague in the National Assembly yesterday instead of listening to the noise outside House business in Parliament. I would have intervened to stop women Parliamentarians from…
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) July 27, 2023
Khawaja Asif once again made sexist and derogatory remarks about women from the opposition party PTI in a joint session of Parliament. The remarks were in response to criticism from PTI Senator Ali Zafar and other parliamentarians about the way the legislation was being handled in Parliament.
During his address, Khawaja Asif made a demeaning statement, saying, “Depraved women should not lecture on chastity.” He went further to insult the women parliamentarians by calling them the “remains” and “ruins” of Imran Khan, implying that they were not worthy representatives.
Read more: Khawaja Asif apologizes for humiliation of PTI women
His remarks led to strong protests from the PTI women. Moreover, Khawaja Asif is facing severe criticism on social media as the video clip of him making the remarks went viral on social media.
Senator Sherry Rehman also came under hot waters as she was seen sitting in the background and not intervening. In fact, netizens have accused her of smiling throughout the whole debacle.
And look at sherry Rahman smiling behind shameless
— Sumiya Akram (@sumiyaakram1) July 25, 2023