Women politicos reign: Females dominating TV screens more incisive than male participants

ISLAMABAD: Close to two dozen women politicians rule the TV screens every day on animated current affairs programmes, defending their parties, leaders and party policies more aggressively than their male counterparts.

Even when their party heads say or do something strange or outlandish, they consider it their duty to justify it and stop their rivals from point-scoring against their leaders. Some of these elected lawmakers are first-timers in parliament. As they are tasting the attractive side of public life for the first time, which has raised their profile, they display an exaggerated kind of belligerence.

They are trying to make everybody believe that they have quickly learnt the art of representing their parties at the legislative and public forums better than others. All the three main political forces – the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) – which mostly control the narrative specifically in the electronic media -- have nominated certain women politicians to participate in TV programmes to speak for them.

The party think-tanks duly brief them daily on what to say, what to skip, how to divert the ongoing discussion from certain issues, how to distract public attention from burning matters and how to pile pressure on their antagonists and humble them and their cause. They have been taught all the ploys of spin-doctoring.

Importantly, the performance of these women lawmakers is far better on TV screens than in the legislatures, perhaps because they don’t get sufficient time to speak on the floor of the national and provincial assemblies. Even otherwise, a bigger audience is available to them to listen to their pearls of wisdom in TV shows. Coming from the male-dominated national and provincial assemblies, the women lawmakers have made their mark more on TV screens than the parliamentary proceedings. Some of them are extremely biting and acerbic.

Almost every day the women who take on their rivals more assertively earn accolades from their party heads. The more they embarrass their opponents, the more they are praised. Those who don’t fare well or utter some unguarded remarks which run counter to party policy are asked not to participate in TV discussions for a while.

Prominent among these discussants are Maryam Aurangzaib, Zartaj Gul, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Dr. Nafisa Shah, Shazia Marri, Shandana Gulzar Khan, Andleeb Abbas, Shaista Pervaiz, Maiza Hameed, Aliya Hamza Malik, Kanwal Shauzab, Maleeka Ali Bokhari, Naz Baloch, Palwasha Khan, Hina Pervez Butt and Rubina Khalid. The unelected Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan and Azma Bukhari, a member of the Punjab Assembly, are also conspicuous with their presence in this lineup and excel in ridiculing and attacking their opponents mercilessly.

At the same time, the women legislators, who are rarely spotted on TV screens include Romina Khurshid Alam, Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur, Shahida Akhtar Ali, Mehnaz Akber Aziz, Dr. Fehmida Mirza, Shamsunnisa, Dr. Shireen Mazari, Shahida Rehmani, Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha and Zobeda Jalal. The rest of the female MPs are hardly seen in TV programmes.

“The ‘liberally corrupt goons’ should not dare to be the leaders and representatives of Pakistani women. The ‘liberal brigade’ has made repeated attempts to distort Prime Minister Imran Khan’s strong efforts towards projecting a positive and progressing image of Pakistan,” Ms. Zartaj Gul, flanked by her PTI colleagues Maleeka Ali Bukhari and Kanwal Shauzab said while presenting a clarification to the opposition parties and the social media outrage over the premier’s recent interview to HBO. They rubbished the allegations levelled by the critics that the prime minister had tainted the image of the victims of sexual violence. “Imran Khan is the genuine symbol of women’s empowerment as for the first time five female MPs have been made cabinet members. Besides, 12 parliamentary secretaries are women,” Ms. Gul explained.

She said women like her were proud to be Pakistani, observing that their religion and culture gave them respect. She said they believe in the women’s rights that are enshrined in the teaching of Islam. “Islam gives me freedom and liberty and I am proud to have it.”

On the other hand, Ms. Shaza Fatima Khawaja of the PML-N said that the prime minister’s misogynistic and chauvinistic mindset has given rapists and harassers a justification for their acts, which is shameful and utterly disgusting. She said holding the dress of women guilty and responsible for their rape amounts to encouraging and exonerating the rapists.

Ms. Khawaja asked what kind of attractive dresses were those women and girls who were raped and killed --such as Zainab, Asma and several other minor girls including paralysed and hospitalised females and girls in school uniforms -- wearing when they were subjected to brutality. “We have been trying to fight the rotten mindset that the prime minister has promoted internationally.”