KARACHI (UCAN): Pakistan’s widely followed Islamic preacher, Maulana (scholar) Tariq Jameel, tendered an apology over remarks he made on April 24 that angered the country’s women and rights groups.
In a Twitter message posted early on April 28, the 67-year-old member of Tablighi Jamaat, a missionary group, admitted that there was no excuse for making any hurtful comments.
On April 24, Jameel, made the controversial remarks in the presence of the prime minister, Imran Khan, during a live telethon on April 24 to raise funds for people affected by the ongoing lockdown. He condemned women for dancing and dressing indecently, claiming these immoral actions have brought the Almighty’s wrath upon the country.
The apology came after women’s rights campaigners and media called for Jameel to apologise.
“Recently I made some comments that I wish to clarify. My aim was to point out that we are all to blame for our current state. It was meant to be a general remark not targeting any specific men, women, persons or gender, but as a reminder to get closer to what Allah teaches us,” Jameel wrote in his April 28 tweet.
“My goal was to remind us all to focus on the spiritual and away from our desires and the materialistic.
“I am the first to admit, as I have taught over the years, that there is no excuse for making any hurtful comments about anyone or making anyone feel uncomfortable. For which I sincerely apologise to anyone who may been inadvertently hurt. I pray that Allah accepts our good deeds and forgives our shortcomings,” he wrote.
Shireen Mazari, Pakistan’s human rights minister, welcomed the apology, posting on Twitter: “Thank you for the clarification. Really appreciate it. You have many followers and this will send a clear message to any who seek to misinterpret your words to target women.”
She added, “In the same spirit, even though my tweet on the issue of women being targeted did not mention you, I would like to apologise if it caused you hurt. The intent was, and is, to clarify that the Covid-19 pandemic’s cause was not women. Women are victimised on many pretexts and we need to ensure that their rights enshrined in the constitution are not violated.”
Mazari had said that Jameel’s April 24 remarks “reflects either ignorance about pandemics or a misogynist mindset. Absolutely unacceptable.”
Mazari had said in a statement, “We will not accept the targeting of women on the pretext of such ludicrous accusations. We in Pakistan have fought hard for claiming our rights as enshrined in the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”
Jameel had also accused the media of disseminating lies, for which he later apologised during a talk show.
In a statement, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was appalled at Jameel’s statement inexplicably correlating women’s modesty to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Such blatant objectification is unacceptable and, when aired on public television, only compounds the misogyny entrenched in society.”
In a hard-hitting editorial on April 26, Pakistan’s most credible English-language daily Dawn also took the cleric to task.
“For the maulana to claim that women should be blamed for a global pandemic is not just ill-informed but also inflammatory. The statements are troubling; not only do they betray a deep-rooted misogyny, they were also aired, unchallenged, from a very high-profile platform,” the paper noted.
“This mentality is reflective of society’s unfortunate tendency to marginalise women simply because social power structures allow them to be viewed as lesser beings. The remarks also reinforce a dangerous yet normalised idea that targeting women is permissible.
“The reality is that women in Pakistan, and elsewhere, face systemic discrimination and violence. During this pandemic, domestic abuse cases have soared as women are forced to stay home for extended periods with their tormentors. Despite these challenges, women strive to be recognised and shatter glass ceilings—as evidenced by the effective response of global women leaders in this pandemic,” the newspaper said.
