PML-F’s Nusrat ‘forgives’ minister after threats

karachi — Pakistan Muslim League (Functional) (PML-F) lawmaker Nusrat Sahar Abbasi on Monday ‘forgave’ Pakistan People’s Party MPA Imdad Pitafi after he draped a chador over her as a symbol of his ‘respect’ for her, reports Dawn online.

Holding a bottle of petrol in her hand, Abbasi had threatened selfimmolation in the Sindh Assembly earlier on Monday if Pitafi was not sacked for his misogynistic remarks against her during Friday’s proceedings in the Sindh Assembly.

Pitafi, the minister for works and services, caused a furore in the assembly on Friday when, in response to a question asked by Abbasi, he invited her to his chamber for what he called a “satisfactory reply”. Addressing a Press conference, Abbasi warned that she would “set an example” in the Sindh Assembly by setting herself on fire.

The PML-F lawmaker said that she had “been dishonoured before the world” because of the “way I was abused.” She told the media she was facing pressure to forgive Imdad Pitafi for his insulting behaviour.

“Should I forgive a man who said such sentences to me?” Nusrat Abbasi had asked.

She requested all women in the province and the country to stand up with her against “shameless men”.

“This is not a personal issue, this is a problem in every household,” she asserted.

However, after Pitafi apologised to Abbasi and offered her a chador as a ‘sign of respect’, she accepted his apology and retracted her call for his sacking.

“I would never have forgiven him,” she told the assembly, “But he came and draped a chador over me and gave me the respect of a sister.” “It is a tradition in Sindh to drape a chador over someone and give them respect,” she added. “I was given respect and the status of a sister, so I retreated from my stance,” she said.