Pakistani cleric links coronavirus pandemic to ‘wrongdoing of women’ as Imran Khan watches on

Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan is spear-heading telethons to mobilise funds from influential Pakistani citizens. 

Influential personalities appear live on TV, they praise Imran Khan's response to the crisis. Some generous contributions are made to the Pakistani government.

These telethons have provided a free platform to Pakistani clerics and their outrageous views. Cleric Tariq Jamil linked the pandemic to what he calls ‘the wrongdoing of women'.

These remarks were made in the presence of the Pakistani prime minister who made no effort to rebuke the cleric for his chauvinistic views.

Imran Khan even accused the Indian film industry of corrupting Pakistan's youth. According to him, Bollywood is behind the rise in sex crimes in Pakistan.

A prominent Pakistani activist, Hina Jilani, called the comments absurd and insensitive. She has condemned the prime minister for letting the cleric abuse women under his watch.

Pakistan's human rights commission too is appalled by these remarks. The commission said that televising such comments compound the misogyny that is already entrenched in the society.

These comments come at a time when women across the world are suffering due to domestic violence. There has been a surge in cases of femicide, but clerics are stigmatising and blaming women and for the coronavirus pandemic and the Pakistan government is silently watching.