Why are political women targeted for personal attacks rather than judged on performance? Published on: September 14, 2026 1:15 AM

Pakistan, Sept. 14 — Politics has sunk to such a low level of morality that it has now descended to personal attacks against women. Women associated with politics are not criticised for their performance; instead, attacks are directed at their personal lives. No one could have imagined that politics would reach such a stage.

The trend of making personal attacks in politics, distorting opponents’ names, mimicking them and publicly humiliating them was introduced by the founder of the PTI. From him, the trend spread to the party’s fourth-tier leadership and eventually to its workers. PTI’s social media has played a leading role in promoting this trend.

A few days ago, Maryam Nawaz travelled to London to attend her daughter’s graduation ceremony. She attended the ceremony as a mother. The visit was private, which is why Maryam Nawaz paid all the expenses of the trip herself. First, these people had a problem with the Punjab government’s aircraft; now they are also troubled by her travelling in the aircraft. Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari made it clear regarding the visit that all expenses had been borne by Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz herself.

President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari also made a similar private visit to London, with the Presidency confirming that his visit to Britain was private and that he had borne his own expenses. Once formal clarifications had been issued from both sides, there was no need to launch a propaganda campaign.

The people of Pakistan remember that when the founder of the PTI, as prime minister, travelled to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah with his wife, Bushra Bibi’s former husband, Khawar Maneka, and his children also accompanied them. The founder of the PTI travelled to Saudi Arabia for Umrah on a government aircraft along with his family and his wife’s former family. At the time, neither the government nor its spokesperson denied that the expenses of the trip had been paid by the PTI founder himself.

The PTI created an uproar over Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz’s visit to London and launched a campaign on social media. One thing has become clear so far: Maryam Nawaz has launched more than 100 development projects in Punjab, involving billions of rupees, yet the PTI has not been able to level even a penny’s worth of corruption allegation against her. That is why the PTI has always targeted Maryam Nawaz personally.

Corruption in government projects in Punjab no longer takes place because Maryam Nawaz has introduced an e-governance system in the province. This has eliminated the concept of direct cash transactions. The very party that built its strongest political narrative around corruption, and whose leader repeatedly chanted “Chor, Chor” against his opponents, now faces a different reality: the same man is serving a jail sentence in the £190 million corruption case and has also been convicted in the Toshakhana case for taking valuable gifts and subsequently selling them in the open market.

But the question is: does a person become free of corruption simply by coming under the PTI’s umbrella? Certainly not.

The PTI has continuously been in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for 12 years. Yet the party has not completed a single project there that can be compared with Maryam Nawaz’s two-year performance in government. Whenever a plan emerges from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it is a plan to march on the federal government. Perhaps the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have also become accustomed to such politics. That is why they do not question the PTI government or its chief minister.

In Punjab, work can be seen taking place on the ground, but where the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa budget goes and where it is spent remains unknown to this day, even though the loudest noise on television and social media also comes from this very party.

At the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session the other day, highly obscene and derogatory language was used against Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari by a government spokesperson. We were told day and night that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were highly honourable and accorded the greatest respect to their sisters and daughters. This was not the first such incident. Earlier, Ali Amin Gandapur, Shahid Khattak, Sohail Afridi and Meena Khan had also used similarly vulgar language.

The bitter truth now is that such a narrative, in which the people of Punjab are humiliated, appears to be gaining acceptance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This is why voices have now begun to emerge in Punjab in defence of Punjabis as well.

A few days ago, when Maryam Nawaz raised questions about terrorists entering Punjab from other provinces, the issue was also linked to India and treason. This was exactly what used to happen during the PTI government, when Bushra Bibi would have political opponents handed out certificates of treason.

Maryam Nawaz is the chief minister of Punjab and has been given a mandate by the people of Punjab. Therefore, protecting the lives and property of the people of Punjab is also her responsibility. She expressed her concerns in that context, but an unsuccessful attempt was made to give her statement a different colour.

What should have happened was that the chief ministers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan should have questioned their respective IGs and chief secretaries about how terrorists from their provinces could enter Punjab. Instead of looking at the issue through the lens of reality, it was viewed through a political lens, comparisons were drawn and Maryam Nawaz was targeted.

This clearly gives the impression that these people are afraid of Maryam Nawaz’s performance and her growing popularity in Punjab.

Maryam Nawaz is working quietly and fulfilling the oath she has taken in letter and spirit. It is equally the responsibility of the chief ministers of other provinces to honour their respective oaths. Unfortunately, however, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is once again planning to march on the federal government, following the tradition of two former chief ministers, Pervez Khattak and Ali Amin Gandapur.

This is a clear violation of his oath, while the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court has already given a clear indication regarding violation of the oath.