Pakistani Women Hit Back At Pervez Hoodbhoy For His Comments On Abaya & Female Participation In Classrooms

By
Aisha Ahmed
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Pervez Hoodbhoy abaya
Image Source: Dawn/UBC/Twitter

So recently, Pakistani women got all furious when the renowned nuclear physicist and educationist, Pervez Hoodbhoy appeared on a show, where he commented that women who wear an abaya and cover their faces have minimal participation in classrooms. He further remarked that they don’t ask any questions and are silent most of the time because they have no confidence.

via GIPHY

In the same breath, the former QAU professor then said that this wasn’t the case when he first started teaching in the early 70s. “There is hardly any normal woman in the classrooms nowadays,” he said. “Almost all are burqa and hijab-clad.”

Ahem, well, as soon as this clip went viral on social media, the face-covering women and their allies joined forces on Twitter to call the professor out on his statement.

Read: #DoNotTouchMyClothes: Afghan Women Start An Online Campaign To Protest Taliban’s Burqa Order

Well, to help you all understand the context behind the uproar, here’s a clip of what he said to anchorperson, Gharidah Farooqi.

So, you see what happened there…

via GIPHY

Um, well, frankly speaking, the outrage seems pretty valid. He clearly outcasted all the burqa-clad women and stereotyped a large segment of the female population by saying that they have less participation because of the way they choose to dress.

So, to contradict his notion, many women posted their stories on Twitter saying how they wore burqas throughout their bachelor degrees, asked questions, and even topped their classes (like a boss), unlike what the professor had to say. *rolls eyes*

And, they tweeted (just for his information) that their attire did not become a hurdle for them – at all!

Ouch!

She said it.

One of the social media users even called his comment “biased,” and asked the professor to stop misinterpreting facts.

Ah well, that’s that, and now we just have to wait and see oont kis karwat baithta hai because one thing is clear that the dress has got nothing to do with intelligence, confidence, and competence, as the netizens explained in their tweets, Mr. Hoodbhoy!

What do you have to say about Pervez Hoodbhoy and his comment on abaya? Share in the comments.

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