'Upsetting': Bilawal responds to PM Imran Khan's comments on rape

ISLAMABAD: The clothes a woman wears or the way she dresses, has nothing to do with the sexual violence she is subjected to,  PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said Tuesday, as he responded to Prime Minister Imran Khan's  comments on rape.

The PPP chairman, speaking to media at the Parliament, 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.

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.

PM Imran Khan a 'coward'

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 also referred to remarks by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi 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?"

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 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.