Pakistani Cleric's Bizarre Remarks as Covid-19 is God's Wrath for Obscenity and Nudity

Lahore: A prominent Pakistani cleric has stoked controversy after his bizarre remarks relating to the coronavirus pandemic which he claimed was due to God's wrath in view of increasing obscenity and nudity.

Rights activists and members of civil society have condemned the remarks made by religious leader Maulana Tariq Jamil on national television during Prime Minister Imran Khan's telethon on April 23 to raise funds for the people affected by the COVID-19.

Maulana Jamil, who has a huge following in Pakistan, said, "Obscenity and nudity are the reasons behind God's wrath in the form of coronavirus."

"Who is making my nation's daughters dance. Their dresses are getting shortened. Allah sends his wrath when obscenity is common in the society," he said.

The comments have been classified "hard and belittling" to ladies who make up half of the Muslim greater part nation. Advodate Maleeka Bokhari, parliamentary secretary of law and equity, tweeted:The spread of a pandemic should never and by no means be related or connected to a lady's devotion or profound quality. 

It is hazardous to make this relationship as brutal wrongdoings against ladies/young ladies keep on occurring without any potential repercussions. Government Minister of Human Rights Shireen Mazari stated: We won't acknowledge the focusing of



ladies on the appearance of such preposterous allegations. We in Pakistan have contended energetically for asserting our privileges as revered in the Constitution of Pakistan. 

Condemning the priest for his "over the top" comments about ladies in Pakistan, she stated: Simply crazy for anybody under any appearance to try and propose the COVID-19 pandemic is an aftereffect of ladies wearing short sleeves or in view of tuition based schools/colleges misdirecting the young. This essentially reflects either numbness about pandemics or a sexist attitude which is completely unsuitable.

Nida Aly, director of the Asma Jahangir Legal Aid cell, said while women under lockdown needed security from the community, the government trotted out Tariq Jamil on a broadly televised programme who not just objectified women but declared them and their individualist actions to bring the wrath of God and punishment in the form of COVID-19."

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said: We are appalled at Maulana Jamil's statement which inexplicably correlated 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 Pakistan, nearly 12,000 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus while the death toll has reached 253.