So Dr. Yasmin Rashid was only being thrown under the bus by the guard?

News that the Punjab Civil Secretariat was not allowing women to enter the Minister’s Block without having their heads covered has been making rounds on the internet for the last two days.

The issue first came to light after Noor Imran, who had a meeting with a Minister, tweeted about being stopped from entering the Punjab Civil Secretariat

and while she wore appropriate clothing (shalwar kameez) she was not allowed to enter the premises because she did not have a dupatta. After a little back and forth with the officials, she borrowed her colleague’s dupatta and put it on her shoulder. But this wasn’t enough either and she was asked to cover her head but she went ahead anyway while the staff protested mildly.

Rant alert: I was refused entry in a government building because I wasn’t wearing a dupatta. 🙂 Refusing me entry was also a head scarf wearing woman (no issues, her choice) who called in a man when I asked why. He said these orders are from the minister I had a meeting with 1/2

— Noor Imran (@NoorImran_) October 17, 2018

My colleague with me had a head scarf and a dupatta lent me hers to enter. I threw it on my shoulder and told her to let me go now. She then said, “Cover your head with it”. I was like why? I have a dupatta now! And I walked off. Ily Pakistan, but you make it very hard 2/2

— Noor Imran (@NoorImran_) October 17, 2018

The next day, Noor’s colleague who was even wearing a dupatta faced the same issue and she even made a recording of her interaction with the staff.

went to the Minister’s Block, Civil Secretariat lhr today coz I heard of this issue that you can’t enter without a dupatta. They refused me too. I asked for written orders and there were none. They used your name ma’am @Dr_YasminRashid . You can see. @PTIofficial #NayaPakistan pic.twitter.com/HvzLThV0Lh

— sidra butt (@ButtSidra) October 19, 2018

The security personnel can be heard in the video naming Dr. Yasmin Rashid as being one of the Ministers who has made the orders to not let any woman who does not have her head covered into the premises.

And since Dr. Yasmin Rashid is a prominent figure and PTI politician, people immediately called her out for this sexist policy.

#NewDrama. Dr Yasmin Rashid imposses entrance restriction for Women without duppata in Civil Secreteriate. Bravo IK.

let ppl decide what they want to wear @Dr_YasminRashid

— Bu @li (@bualishahid) October 19, 2018

On one hand by orders of Dr. Yasmin Rashid, women can't enter the civil secreteriat unless they wear a hijab.On the other, a recently hired woman at a company was asked to leave because she wears a hijab
Let women's clothes be, concentrate on their work
Video about YR in comments

— Shamila Ghyas (@ShamilaGhyas) October 19, 2018

Who is Dr Yasmin Rashid to pass this order? Moreover this is none of her business.

— TerracottaWarrior (@SyedKhawarmehdi) October 19, 2018

But according to the official PTI account on Twitter, this is fake news and Dr. Yasmin Rashid has not given any such orders.

The Minister @Dr_YasminRashid has not issued any discriminatory orders like this. One should not hurl any blame/allegation without concrete evidence.

You may report the incident to concerned authorities.@FakeNews_Buster https://t.co/xMpdnNvi6k

— Tehreek-e-Insaf (@InsafPK) October 19, 2018

Dr. Rashid also tweeted saying she’s issuing a show cause notice to the guard who named her in the video circulating regarding the matter

This is quite absurd indeed!
Neither has such an instruction been given nor is it possible to discriminate against anyone on this pretext
Have taken notice of this.
The guard has been investigated and a show cause notice is being issued to him. https://t.co/cTg2L3g2hv

— Dr. Yasmin Rashid (@Dr_YasminRashid) October 19, 2018

While the tweet removes responsibility for this rule from Dr. Yasmin Rashid, the issue still remains that another Minister did indeed have this rule be implemented. So who was it? Because the tweet does not negate the fact that the rule was actually imposed in the first place. And it is also concerning that the security personnel lied and used Dr. Yasmin Rashid’s name to make the female visitors comply.

What do you think about this entire situation? Let us know in the comments.

Women Are Calling Bullshit After Being Stopped From Entering Punjab Civil Secretariat Without Dupatta On Their Heads

Pakistanis’ Response To Politicians Making Sexist Remarks About Women Is Heartening But Will We Really Hold Them Accountable?

Cover Image Source: @ButtSidra via Twitter.com/newstv.pk