KARACHI – Daily Ummat, a far-right-wing, Karachi-based Urdu-language newspaper, Monday faced severe backlash after referring Aurat March participants as ‘whores’.
The use of such unethical and inappropriate language against the women has drawn flak amid the smearing campaign against the Aurat March.
On April 5, the Pakistani newspaper published a story about the highest sexual violence cases in 14 countries on its front page. The derogatory remarks were criticized by women’s rights activists, journalists, and a number of social media influencers.
Pakistan’s oldest human rights organization, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan also took notice of the matter. A statement issued on its Twitter handle stated “HRCP condemns the use of unethical and inappropriate language against women in the daily Ummat,” said the organization in a tweet.
🗣️ HRCP condemns the use of unethical and inappropriate language against women in the daily #Ummat. The newspaper must publish an unconditional apology and refrain from using such language in future. 1/2
— Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) April 5, 2021
Adding that “The newspaper must publish an unconditional apology and refrain from using such language in the future,” the tweet read further.
Earlier in March, doctored footage from the Karachi demonstration was surfaced which falsely shows participants raising blasphemous slogans against Islamic personalities.
Several accounts deleted their tweet sharing the doctored video of #AuratMarch slogans when corrected but many are refusing to do so despite being directly confronted with evidence. They are making themselves equally culpable of crimes of defamation, hate speech & cyber terrorism
— M. Jibran Nasir 🇵🇸 (@MJibranNasir) March 11, 2021
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