RAWALPINDI – Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the PTI-led federal government has made laws that protect women’s rights but it is the society that has to implement them.
He expressed these views while addressing a ceremony in Rawalpindi’s Fatima Jinnah University to celebrate International Women’s Day.
The premier said that most Pakistani women don’t get their rights and that is because the country has adopted traditions from India, where women were considered men’s property.
“Indian women used to be burned alive (Satti) with the body of her husband if he died” he said.
Imran Khan also emphasised on empowerment of women, saying “all women have rights and we will enforce them”.
He said the government was encouraging parents through financial assistance so they could send their daughters to schools.
“Our country cannot progress unless the women are educated,” he added.
PM Imran said that as the laws have been created, the administration, women and everyone else has a role to play in raising awareness on women’s rights and their protection.
Shedding light on the increasing trend of second marriages, the PM said that a collective struggle is needed to stop men from abandoning their wives after they marry another woman.
“Women have separate rights in case of divorce,” PM Imran said while pledging to enforce relevant laws in the future.
