July 2, 2024
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
The Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) on Tuesday, July 2, submitted a resolution in the Punjab Assembly against a video where 95 percent of women in Pakistan have been declared ‘ignorant’ by a YouTuber. The resolution was submitted by PML-N member of Assembly Rahila Khadim Hussain.
‘Over the last few days, women and their fundamental rights and self-respect are being continuously attacked using social media and electronic media as tools against them,’ states the resolution. ‘A regular campaign against depriving women of basic education is on-going, and we (the house and its members) strongly condemn this declaration that 95 percent of women are ignorant. We demand that the Punjab government should act in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan and the spirit of Islam. These elements should be brought to justice and punished and such petty minded people should be discouraged from voicing their opinions on social and electronic media.’
The Video
On June 29, TV channel Samaa aired a show discussing ‘human rights and women rights’ as announced by the show moderator Ayesha Jahanzeb. To talk about this issue the show had invited Sahil Adeem, a Youtuber, known to be loud and abrasive while the show was co hosted by none other than screen writer Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar, who has had a history of spouting misogynist views on social media and television.
The conversation was already prejudiced and slanted. First the host separated women rights from human rights.
Then as always Khalil ur Rehman Qamar indirectly bashed a women’s rights movement (Aurat March) which he said was being imposed on the nation with an agenda and was being supported by certain women and some ‘persons resembling men’ (mard numa loag). He himself even goes so far to profess that he did not know anything about feminism before that, but had always argued with the slogan of Mera Jism Meri Marzi (My Body, My Right).
Sahil Adeem taking over the reigns of the conversation where Qamar left off, said that these women had taken in help from the western powers to attack her own ‘father’, because she was not getting any help from within the country.
“Now she fights saying she wants freedom from her own father,” he said disapprovingly. “I even know what psychological techniques they are using to design their placards. They are all copy-pasters.”
Adeem is a motivational speaker, with a background in corporate training and consulting. He often speaks at colleges and universities, and came to prominence with his viral reels presenting an interpretation of Quranic teachings through the modern social lens, which appeals to his core target demographic of urban males in their 20s. Much of his content revolves around marriage and spousal rights and duties, along with pseudoscientific theories. His talks are covered in the garb of progressive ideas, but in actuality they are only as conservative and controversial and regressive as the traditional ‘mullahs’ or clerics whom Adeem seems to be challenging. On his own Facebook profile he has described himself as “Thought Leader | Educational Consultant | Psychologist”, but not a religious scholar.
The discussion was filled with problems, with Qamar talking about how a woman could easily become unfaithful if she is trapped at home, and mansplained women’s rights and needs to the audience, but the show took an unexpected turn when Sahil Adeem’s declaration that 95 percent women across Pakistan were ‘jaahil‘ (ignorant) was challenged by an audience member.
Abza Abdullah, the participant in the audience stuck to her statement demanding Adeem apologize to women about making the brash and disrespectful statement considering half the population of the country was women. However Adeem refused. Instead he challenged Abdullah if she knew the meaning of the word ‘Taghut’.
Islamic philosopher Abul Ala Maududi has defined taghut as a creature who not only rebels against God but transgresses his will. Due to these associations, in recent times the term may refer to any person or group accused of being anti-Islamic and an agent of Western cultural imperialism. The term was introduced to modern political discourse since the usage surrounding Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, through accusations made both by and against Khomeini.
Needless to say the clip has gone viral on social media with women and men both supporting Abdullah and condemning Sahil Adeem as well as the two show hosts.
Farah Zia, director of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) strongly condemn the comment by Adeem.
“Mainstream channels should not give a platform to such people,” she said. “Its a very dangerous trend in a society where we already see misogynist anti women views, and you give a platform to these people and they try to reinforce these views. My other big concern is that these people are getting a lot of attention and for them nothing is changing. Even the way the channel is showing the clips, they seem okay with it. As a human rights organization we condemn this strongly.”
The HRCP may also be sending a letter in the near future to relevant stakeholders.
Mainstream religion cannot be a test for ignorance
Nabila Feroze Bhatti, a rights activist from the Christian community says by declaring a woman jahil on the basis of her knowledge of a word occurring in the Quran, is not justified.
“It is being insinuated that if someone does not know the meaning of an Arabic word, then she is ignorant. But Arabic is not our native language. And how is a woman from the religious minority community meant to know the meaning of the word?” she asks. “Knowledge of a language and being educated are two separate issues.”
Bhatti expressed her anger saying that it was surprising how women in media kept inviting such misogynistic hate-mongers time and again for their ‘unwanted opinions on women’s issues’.
“I am disappointed at the women in media who call such men and give them space and pander to them, so that they can spread their mysoginitics messages from that platform,” she said.
Sahil Adeem and the Red Herring Fallacy: pic.twitter.com/qI0ClryNMz
— The Pakistan Experience (@ThePakistanExp1) July 2, 2024
Bhatti also added that around 26.7 million children were currently out of school, mostly with girls.
“Girls suffer from a lack of educational opportunities thanks to cultural norms, poverty, logistical issues, early marriages and parents preference to sending boys to school among many other reasons,” she says. “This kind of propaganda sets them back even further. These hateful views are something the state should take very very seriously.”
Naumana Suleman, Chairperson of Minority Women Forum, also echoed similar thoughts. “There is a significant number of women from religious minority communities, and they should not be judged this way,” she said.
Misogyny on the Rise?
With a recent controversy sparked because of some videos made by clerics one of whom pushed parents not to send their girls to school because they were being exposed to obscenity.
Men start to hide behind obscure interpretations and self serving translations of religion and scriptures when a woman confronts them with logic and common sense. Kudos to this lady. pic.twitter.com/WWZSivKSrq
— M. Jibran Nasir 🇵🇸 (@MJibranNasir) June 30, 2024
The question is whether misogyny is rising on digital media and on television? Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) Executive Director Nighat Dad says it is.
Sahil Adeem’s various viral controversies highlight a trend that he is acutely aware of the the audience response and the ratings his content will receive.
“Click baits and sensational content brings thousands of views,” she said. “And this is another business model for these media houses, and these so called experts and analysts. But along with this, the viewership of this type of content about women shows the kind of society that is out there. I do not think there is a decrease in patriarchal mindset. Take Khalil ur Rehman Qamar. He has said so many ridiculous things in the past but even then his dramas are best sellers and he is celebrated in our industry.”
Nighat Dad said such personalities thrived in a culture like ours. “Online media has shown us that the patriarchal mindset is quite extensive and is very much there and that things are certainly not changing, because this kind of content satisfies toxic masculinity.”
A representative from the channel however said that the channel had not planted the girl in the audience and that the questions were her own. “She is outspoken and we look for people in the audience who have strong views, and this was not done for ratings,” he said. Abza Abdullah did not respond to media queries.
Media Policies and Regulations
“I think the problem is how we pit the issue as free speech and hate speech and the binary which is exploited by regulatory measures,” says Farieha Aziz from Bolo Bhi. “PEMRA exists as does a code of conduct, a council of complaints, and the council can be approached via a complaint. In the past this has been done with regards to Aamir Liaquat who levelled blasphemy allegations against individuals. But the issue remains the implementation of the law and mechanisms that already exist.”
Similarly for online speech, PECA exists as well as criminal complaints and PTA for content requests. “But the question is whose complaints will be prioritized and whose not when filed.
Media analyst Adnan Rehmat says, “This is a perfect case which in Pakistan epitomizes the blurred line between freedom of expression and hate speech. We have a constitutional guarantee for free speech rights but that does not include hate speech, and its important for the media to understand this thin line that separates the two. There is simply no excuse for a news room or an editorial team to allow this kind of patent hatred against a gender, a minority or an ethnic group.
Rehmat says there are two ways in which to regulate this. One, through professional standards and media ethics. Besides that legal statutes which can regulate hate speech. Regulation has increased over last decade but to restrict freedom of expression rather than curb hate speech.
“We as civil society need to call a spade a spade and call out those hate mongers who are ‘jaahil‘ themselves for calling a population of 120 million women jahil,” he said.