New Delhi: Former Pakistani minister Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday had a foot-in-mouth moment when he said women in Pakistan should not opt to become police officers. His career advice was soon called out by people who said that the comment reeked of misogyny.
The former Imran Khan aide took to X to give his unsolicited advice, highlighting Islamabad’s Chief Traffic Officer Kainat Azhar Khan’s visit to the city’s Red Zone to review security and traffic.
Chaudhry responded to it, saying: “Why women are opting to become police officers? Most of them are completely useless as cops, also it’s terrible career choice even otherwise….”
Mirza Shahzad Akbar, former advisor to Imran Khan on Accountability and Interior, responded in Urdu asking: “Isn’t this misogynistic, Chaudhry sahab?”
Others agreed. Prominent Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir added: “This is called Male chauvinism. Some men believe that they are naturally superior to women in intelligence, ability, or importance. I have seen same kind of Pakistani men bowing down in front of female diplomats.”
Responding to the backlash, Fawad Chaudhry sought to clarify his remarks, insisting that they were not motivated by gender bias. In response to Mir, he clarified that his comments were intended to highlight what he sees as the misallocation of talent in politics and public service, adding that exceptionally capable individuals would be better suited to careers in fields such as science, technology or business.
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‘Career counseling’
Chaudhry further maintained that policing does not necessarily require highly specialised intellectual abilities and suggested that directing exceptionally talented people toward such professions may not be the most effective use of their potential.
However, his explanation did little to quell the controversy. Pakistanis on social media continued to condemn his remarks, with many arguing that his original comments were dismissive and offensive despite the subsequent clarification.
X user Nawab Asad Jutt cheekily added: “Lol, there is 50% women population of the country. Statistically, women are less corrupt than men, and they do their jobs properly. All our issues would be solved if all top positions in Pakistan were held by women.”
Others were not so polite. One Pakistani X user, Zia Hussain, labelled him “a brain dead, self-proclaimed politician” calling his tweet “disgraceful”.
Despite the backlash, Chaudhry refused to be deterred. In a post on Thursday, he issued yet another clarification, justifying his remarks.
“I have seen lots of people commenting on my observation that topper girls should be discouraged to opt for police service and prefer science and entrepreneurship instead. I can be wrong but I strongly feel administrative jobs as cop or even municipal administration are for mediocre and not for toppers and women makes terrible cop anyways…,” he wrote on X.
Pakistanis had had enough. X user Aamna sarcastically added: “Political career washed so bad bro started career counselling”.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)