Pakistani Senator Threatens Activist With Rape on Live Television

Senator Hamdullah, Barrister Masroor and Marvi Sirmed during the argument. Screenshot from Dawn News video.

Senator Hamdullah, Barrister Masroor, and Marvi Sirmed during the argument. Image: Dawn News

During a TV talk show this Friday, June 10, Pakistani Senator Hafiz Hamdullah verbally abused Marvi Sirmed, an analyst on the program and a human rights activist, even threatening the woman with rape. Hamdullah, a representative of the religious political party Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), has spoken abusively on live television to political opponents before.

Shortly after the program was recorded, Sirmed wrote about the experience on Facebook, triggering an uproar, and leading to a police report and calls for Senator Hamdullah to be prosecuted:

I've just undergone a very traumatic experience at a News One program (Nadia Mirza Show) when Hafiz Hamdullah of JUIF got angry on a comment by Barrister Masroor. When my turn came, I started my comment by saying “I agree with Masroor sahib to the extent that…” and here Hamdullah cut me and went on and on with his arrogance and rudeness. I responded in almost the same coin. And that's when he started abusing me with worst possible expletives. Called me a whore and said “tumhaari shalwaar utaar dooN ga aur tumhaari maaN ki bhi” (I will take off your trousers and your mothers). I returned this to his own family women. And then he tried to beat me. All of this recorded in camera. Fayaz ul Hassan Chauhan held him so his punches don't reach me. He had to be taken away by the News One security.

And this religious merchant was fasting while he did all this.

Ironically, the incident took place while taping a show dedicated to the debate in Pakistan about so-called “honor killings” (the practice killing of a relative, especially a girl or woman, who is perceived to have brought dishonor on the family) and the silence on the issue from the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII)—a 20-member constitutional body, created in 1962, that provides non-binding advice to the government about the religious aspects of the law and society. The CII has also been faulted for failing to acknowledge violence more generally against women.

The Council of Islamic Ideology recently came under criticism for drafting legislation that would permit husbands to “beat their wives lightly.” Hamdullah, incidentally, chairs the Senate’s Religious and Interfaith Harmony Committee.

On the TV show, panelist Barrister Masroor suggested insultingly that CII Chairman Cleric Maulana Sherani and Senator Hamdullah were “pee k soey hue hain’” (sleeping after becoming intoxicated). Masroor went on to criticize the CII for condoning violence against women. The anchor then turned to Sirmed and asked for her opinion about the CII's position on women's rights and its failure to condemn honor killings. Sirmed sided with Masroor, enraging Hamdullah, who began shouting. The argument escalated to such a degree that Hamdullah ultimately threatened Sirmed with rape.

Fight Between Hafiz. Video: Shoaibvideos

The edited video clip omits the rape threat and verbal abuse. Sirmed shared details of the attempted physical assault on her Facebook page and on another TV show, after pressing criminal charges against Hamdullah. While the video footage showing the attempted physical assault hasn't been released yet, Barrister Masroor tweeted in support of Sirmed and corroborated her story:

After Sirmed shared her story, several others came forward to speak about the abuse they've faced from Hamdullah.

Parliamentarian Dr. Arif Alvi spoke out in support of Sirmed and shared his own experience:

Internet user Rana Waleed listed others who have faced abuse from Hamdullah in the past, including several TV anchors:

Sirmed has been on several shows with Hamdullah before, and she's never concealed her many disagreements with his politics. This time, however, he refused outright to let her speak, resorting even to violent threats. Despite the footage from the TV studio, many people online claim that Sirmed provoked the fight. Her supporters, meanwhile, are pushing back:

You responded to him so now why are you pretending to be innocent? aren't men and women equal?

Senator Sherry Rehman condemned the incident and echoed the public's demands for action against Senator Hamdullah:

The renowned women's rights activist Gulalai Ismail has demanded that Senator Hamdullah face legal penalties for threatening Sirmed. In a Facebook post, Ismail shared her anger and frustration about the senator's behavior:

Mullah Hafiz Hamdullah has not just used “derogatory sexist language”, through his statement he has given rape threat to Marvi Sirmed and to her mother. Through is statement, he is reinforcing that being a man having the power of a religious political party at his back, he can rape women and beat women at his disposal. He should not just be banned from media, he should be put in jail for life time because he is a threat to all women.

An earlier version of this post referred to Senator Hamdullah as Hamdani, the error has been fixed and post updated with the correct name.

67 comments

  • Akbar Mohamadzai

    Yeh to harraamzada suwar ka bacha hey. Isse ulta taang ker kode lagane chahiye

  • denis

    What do you expect? This religion of hate called Islam has no limits to its depravity. On live TV it threatens a woman with rape. In Islam women are to be seen and not heard, have one purpose in life, reproduction, preferably males. I wonder if Muslim men are very fearful of women, especially educated women because they have a superior intellect to idiots like this idiot.

    • brez brez

      Denis , Hamdullah is no example of a common Muslim man but infact the opposite who has allowed himself to be swamped by entirely false and distortions of Islam, because they play into the weak ego of man. Christian and Hindu fundamentalists beliefs as regards the (their degraded) concept on the status of women are no different, if not much worse. I will point out to you that the eminent literary scholar Allama Iqbal remarked that had he not known the Quran to be written by God(ALLAH) SWT he would have thought it was written by a WOMAN such is the revolutionary respect it grants towards women(provided it is read and interpreted correctly and with an intention to abide by PURE TRUTH).

      • AbbyAtheist

        My problem is when the “common” Muslim man does nothing when the extremists like Hafiz Hamdullah act out. The same as when the extremists bomb and kill it is the moderates that do nothing to control these members of their own religion. Because, I think, any Muslim would rather side with another Muslim than someone of another faith or of no faith. Even at the expense of a life or many lives.

        • Amur El Bey

          Did you not just see all the Twitter posts of people condemning it, with one of them asking him to be prison for life.

          I mean shit what else do you want them to do? Storm into his house and put his head on a spike?

          Also with that logic, one could argue about all the “common” Christians that do nothing while Western governments tortures and bombs civilians and who aren’t guilty of any crime. I mean shit the torture programs conducted by the US is public knowledge at this point and still nothing has been done.

          With that logic, I could say “Americans will side with Americans, even at the expensive of a life or many lives”. If your statement is true, then my statement is even more so. Don’t forget about the millions of civilians that were killed in Iraq (a war under false pretenses) and the various drone strikes that kill hundreds to thousands of civilians every year just so we can get rid of a handful of terrorist targets.

          Also before you start throwing out the “Muslim apologist!” assertions, you need to know that I’m staunchly an Atheist. However, I greatly dislike the fact that you’re getting on your self-righteous pedestal and acting as all Muslims are to blame for the actions of a few. Because one you start turning that logic on ourselves, you won’t like the implications it has for us.

          • USAMNESIA

            I think by Thoreau’s wisdom, the majority of Americans..with their anesthetized complicity towards illegal wars… would be incarcerated.

            “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place
            for a just man is also in prison.”
            Thoreau

             
          • AbbyAtheist

            So the only two options for you are to bitch on twitter or storm his house and put his head on a spike? Complaining on twitter is the same as praying, they do nothing. If there are so many Muslims against the extremists then why are the extremists still in power in so many Muslim countries, or running their mosques?

             
          • What further proof do we need that Islamophobes don’t even read? The article clearly shows that outrage followed the man’s threats. This happens in the West as well. There have been enough scandals in the past few years to speak for themselves. That bigots want to make this about Islam vs West rather than a GLOBAL tolerance of rape is why these men – and they’re usually men – are no allies to any women’s cause.

            I grew up Catholic and the nuns who taught me at school used to tell me that sometimes honor killings is justified.

            And I’m an Atheist as well. I’m just sick of self-righteous atheists who think they’re so much better than everyone else. Last time I checked, Atheist men rape as well.

            If you want to be an ally of the cause, you shut the f- up and listen to what people are actually saying about their problems. You’re not their savior. In fact, men are more often than not a huge part of the problem. So some basic modesty is required here to dilute the massive amount of bullshit that comes out of the vast majority of Islam-related topics, and I say ‘Islam-related topics’ with as much sarcasm as possible since this is a male problem, not a Muslim male problem exclusively.

             
          • AbbyAtheist

            Outrage doesn’t mean action. And as I said above. Bitching on twitter is like praying, it does nothing.

             
          • surj

            Amur El Bey …Ever heard of ”al-taqiyya ” ?

             
        • troglodave

          You appear to have a conformation bias that is preventing you from seeing that regular Muslims are speaking out against people like Hamdullah.

          That’s exactly what Marvi Sirmed was doing, yet you conveniently choose to ignore this, as it doesn’t fit your agenda.

        • Sam Weintraub

          No, your problem is that you make judgments on the basis of your thoughts and your feelings without regard for facts. And it is a fact that Muslims aren’t doing nothing in response to extremism. Do you know why? Because
          “common” Muslims are the ones who suffer the most from it.

          Exponentially more Muslims die at the hands of terrorists than any other demographic group. I’ll include a link at the bottom but Google “Muslims against terrorism” or “Muslims against ISIS” and do your own research. The reason you don’t see this is because it doesn’t garner mainstream headlines, and you obviously don’t look for the information. And although many Muslims do condemn terrorism, which contrary to your belief does happen in American media and elsewhere, they are neither in control of nor responsible for the actions of other Muslims. What you think about the matter is inconsequential because you blatantly lack objectivity on the subject.

          http://www.globalresearch.ca/muslims-are-the-victims-of-between-82-and-97-of-terrorism-related-fatalities-us-government/5516565

        • brez brez

          I would have to say that you are evidently wrong. All Muslim majority countries have anti-terrorism policies in place which they have enacted. The problem is that the lack of safeguards and deterrents in place against the hypocritical leadership in some of these countries and their obscene ties with the extreme terrorist countries such as Israel and/or foriegn policies of European states which have been sucked bloodless and spineless by a cowardly Israel that cannot fight its own dirty wars on its own.

          • AbbyAtheist

            See my other replies please. I just don’t think the Muslim people are doing enough. I believe they love their religion more than they do their fellow humans.

             
      • lemmie40

        Mohammed was 53 years old when he consummated his marriage to AIsha. She was ten. I can’t think of anyone male or female who would write a book with the child molester as the protagonist, but to say that the book grants respect toward women when the main character has sex with underage girls is just asinine. Child molesters are the lowest of the low.

        • Constitutional Kafir

          Nope, she wasn’t 10,thats just false propaganda the Christians spread in order to stop Christians in Europe to stop converting to Islam. Get your facts right, and stop quoting from anti Islam propaganda websites. That just shows your lack of knowledge on the subject. According to authentic historical sources, she was 17 and before you decide to make another foolish statement, that’s not too young to get married & have children. Now, if you just disagree with that fact and believe 17 is too young then that’s your personal belief and you have the right to have that opinion but 17 year old is still an adult.

          • You are ignorant. Why do you even call yourself Muslim if you believe such stupid lies?

            Sahih al-Bukhari 5133
            Book 67, Hadith 69
            Vol. 7, Book 62, Hadith 64

            that the Prophet (ﷺ) married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).

            حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ هِشَامٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ ـ رضى الله عنها ـ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم تَزَوَّجَهَا وَهْىَ بِنْتُ سِتِّ سِنِينَ، وَأُدْخِلَتْ عَلَيْهِ وَهْىَ بِنْتُ تِسْعٍ، وَمَكَثَتْ عِنْدَهُ تِسْعًا‏.‏

             
          • Constitutional Kafir

            So I have a slight difference of belief about the age of the Prophet’s wife than you & your mullahs, you think I should stop calling myself a Muslim? That’s the problem with people like you.

            What are the conditions put forth by Allah & His Prophet that makes a person Muslim in Allah’s eyes; do you even know?

            “and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old”. Most authentic hadiths put her age between 15 & 17. I just went with 17 but 15 is still old enough for consummation.

            These mullahs today will spread any falsehood to justify their own behavior.

            There are Thousands of fake/void/un-authenticated hadiths out there. This means that you are not familiar with the process of authentic hadiths. Any hadith that contradicts the teaching of Qura’an must be rejected. I don’t follow these mullahs of today. I prefer to listen to the Qura’an & the Prophet of Allah himself; Here’s another Authentic Hadith for you.

            “There will come a time upon the people when nothing will remain of Islam except its name and nothing will remain of the Quran except its inscription.

            Their mosques will be splendidly furnished but destitute of guidance.

            Their divines will be the worst people under the sky; strife will issue from them and avert to them.”

            There is another hadith that compares the conditions of Muslim Scholars after the 14th century (21st century AD) to the moral conditions of the Jews during the time of Jesus 2000 years ago.

            Why would I believe the word of some guy on the internet over the true teaching of the Qura’an.

            You can continue to believe these mullahs all you want (see above to read again what the Prophet of Islam called them).

             
          • Unfortunately for you, the vast majority of muslims will disagree with you.

            In fact, Sudan just sentenced people to death for rejecting the teachings of the hadiths. http://www.albawaba.com/loop/not-right-type-islam-27-muslims-are-trial-sudan-apostasy-777618

            But lets say you are right, and the Quran is the only true word.
            http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/gay/long.html
            http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/women/long.html
            http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/sex/long.html

            People who truly believe these teachings have no place in modern society. You have to be stupid as fuck to actually believe this shit.

             
          • Constitutional Kafir

            I’ve already showed you what the Prophet has said about these people you keep calling scholars and that’s how I feel about them. I wouldn’t touch a mullah with a 10 ft stick.

            People who truly believe these teachings have no place in modern society?

            Let’s see, the Romans, whom everyone worships in the West turned to homosexuality just before the decline of the Empire. They used to think themselves as a “Modern” society as well. Do those forward thinking homosexual Romans have a place in “today’s” modern society? There are homosexual talibans in Afghanistan too but being so modern hasn’t stopped them from acting like animals!

            God has repeatedly, through all his prophets, of all known major religions (Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Bhudism) forbidden homosexuality. You are free to believe what you like; to each their own.

            Human nature never changes. This concept of modern society is brought up by anyone who wants to justify homosexuality & all the while telling anyone who disagrees with them that they have no place in the modern society.

            There is no difference between you and that mullah except that you two are on the opposite end of the Isle.

            LOL, and you think you know what I should believe better than I do.

            Go find something better to do. I’m done with your Ignorant/Arrogant idiotic nonsense, you’re just another mullah to me; with a different set of beliefs.

             
          • brez brez

            I would be happy for you to share your historical source that Aisha was ’17’. The source that I had accessed indicates research done by Edip Yuskel who cross-referenced hadiths(which in themselves are not necessarily reliable but at least the one source we have in relation to Aisha) and found that Aisha’s age would likely have been 19yrs. In most modern countries today, this is an that age is classified as an adult age. I would say that it is the fault of breadth of ‘Muslim’ Ulema that this undignified claim of Aisha’s age being 10 has not been classified as wholly unreliable and therefore unacceptable whatever the reason it came about at all. Of course, it is precisely because I am a Muslim, I can accept the fact of 19yrs of age as the true age of Aisha without any particular ‘endorsement’ from a ‘traditional’ scholar because I have applied the Quranic instruction of not accepting claims without objective,holistic and rational research.

             
      • terrifick

        Then STAND THE FUCK UP AND BROADCAST IT ALL OVER THE INTERNET AND THE WORLD AND TO YOUR IMAM, otherwise, SHUT UP, sick of you guys saying one thing, and letting the other “happen” (but I didn’t participate!!) DUDE IF YOU DON’T STOP THIS PROBLEM YOU ARE PART OF THE FUCKING PROBLEM. Allahu Ahkbar, DUDE.

      • surj

        brez brez ” Hamdullah is not example of a common Muslim man but …….allowed himself to be swamped by entirely false and distortions of Islam ” What is false? Quran stated that Men have authority over women , that is the reason Hamdullah is furious. …”Christian and Hindu fundamentalists beliefs as regards the(their degraded) concept on the status of women are no different, if not much worst ” Are you thick or joking? Tell us where have you see or heard a Christian or a Hindu man behaving like Hamdullah or beheading his wife or daughter like you muslims do? Give us a link to that. You label Christians and Hindus fundamentalists, how many have you heard have been suicide bomber or killed innocent people all over the world as Muslims do?

      • surj

        brez brez ” ..such is the revolutionary respect it grants towards women…..” Who are you kidding? May be the ones who don’t know . Women in Islam Tabari ix:113 ” Allah permits you to shut them in separate rooms and to beat them, but not severely, if they abstain they have the right to food and clothing. Treat woman well for they are like domestic animals and they possess nothing themselves. Allah has made the enjoyment of their bodies ” Bukhari Verse 2, Book24, Number 541 ” On Id-ul-Fitr or Id-ul -Adha , Allah’s apostle went out to the Musalla .After finishing his prayer, he delivered the sermon and ordered the people to give alms. He sais O’ people ”Give alms ” Then he went towards the women and said O’ womwn give alms ” For I have see that the majority of the dwellers of the hell Fire are you [ women ] ” So please don’t come here with your BS. Also read Quran Sura 4:34 ”Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the others ….” Sura 2:223 read it .There is lot more I can quote

        • brez brez

          I would say that the translation you have read is misleading. The correct translation of ‘Qawamunna’ is ‘protectors/supporters’ and not ‘authoritarians’ over women.
          Full translation of 4:34:
          ‘Men are supporters/protectors of wives because God gave some of them an advantage over others and because they spent of their wealth. So the females,are devoutly obedient to Allah , ones who guard the unseen of what God kept safe. And those females whose disregard(of good moral behaviour) you fear, then admonish them and abandon them in their sleeping places and go away from them. Then if they (f) obeyed you, then look not for any way against them.Truly, God had been Lofty, Great.’ Bukhari or Tabari cannot be said to be reliable, because they have been reliant on oral human transmission and bias- they simply indicate claims that were in circulation at the time of their writing and not absolute truths.The Quran says of itself that it is the ‘best hadith’ and after this what ‘hadith’ will you then accept? S77:50. If you wish you could learn about the range of root meanings of Arabic language yourself. There have been numerous press reports in India which showcase how ordinary Indian women have been publicly abused and little done punish the perpetrators and equally in Western ‘Christian’ societies how women are obliged to play the ‘sexually available’ role and suffer as much as 2 domestic murders per week(UK).

    • Constitutional Kafir

      Take your ignorance elsewhere. These so called Muslim Clergy (they are just as ignorant of Islam as you are) are only so bold because of the Saudis support whom are supported by the United States.

      • denis

        Muslim clergy, have to memorize the koran, study thoroughly the Life of Mohammed, and have a extremely good knowledge of the Hadiths. They study and memorize these three books for years. Muslim clergy are dummies when it comes to all the humanities taught in western society universities but to say Islamic clergy is ignorant of Islam is non sequitur

        • Constitutional Kafir

          Traditionally yes but these mullahs today drink, murder, rape, and so on…

          they have in their ignorance neglected what the Holy Quran had already prophesied in 25:31: “O my Lord, my people indeed treated this Quran as a thing abandoned.”

          There is also a saying of the Holy Prophet to the effect. Remember these are the words of the Prophet of Islam, describing the condition of his own self-proclaimed followers

          “There will come a time upon the people when nothing will remain of Islam except its name and nothing will remain of the Quran except its inscription.

          Their mosques will be splendidly furnished but destitute of guidance.

          Their divines will be the worst people under the sky; strife will issue from them and avert to them.”

          There is another hadith that compares the conditions of Muslims after the 14th century (21st century AD) to the moral conditions of the Jews during the time of Jesus 2000 years ago. The Rabbis at that time were so called scholars of their religion & stood up against Jesus.

    • Christopher.K

      yes very shameful of such insecure men. How should this fool be treated? May be he is inviting rape upon himself. May God have mercy upon him. The world will hear about what happened to him a humiliating thing has happened to this fool.

    • Branden Jensen

      Firstly, your statement is exceptionally ignorant. Especially when various followers of western religions are just as bad, or worse, and have a history that makes that of Islam look like a small speed bump.

      Secondly, you speak of things you have no true knowledge of. There is just as much depth to their society as any other on the planet, and your blanket statements for all Muslims display your ignorance on that matter as well.

  • Indian

    The people who vote for these degenerates and let them sit in the parliament should be blamed as well..Total tamasha country..

  • Kya Mera Bharat Mahaan Hai

    Bhaiyon tumhare yahan ye Mullah- Maulwiyon ne hi sabka dimaag kharab kar rakha hai… Desh ko aage le jane ke bajay Peeche lekar jaa rhe hain… God Save ur country

  • denise kerr

    DISGUSTING DIRTY DIRTY VILE MAN; SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED ON TV

  • Arsalaan F. Chaudhry

    It is because of these people, that image of Islam is shattered and now people around the world view Muslims as people who are ethically and mentally retarded people.

  • caius marius

    Not ironically, significantly…(Ironically, the incident took place while taping a show dedicated to the debate in Pakistan about so-called “honor killings” )

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  • ForTehNguyen

    ahhhh religion of peace

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