Fawad Chaudhry Claims Women are Useless as Cops

Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry has drawn intense backlash after discouraging Pakistani women from joining the police force.

Chaudhry took to X and shared a controversial post questioning why women were opting to become police officers.

He was quoting a post about Islamabad Chief Traffic Officer Kainat Azhar Khan when he made his provocative remarks.

“Most of them are completely useless as cops, also it’s terrible career choice even otherwise.”

His statement immediately sparked an intense reaction across social media from journalists, activists and ordinary citizens.

Renowned journalist Hamid Mir responded directly to Chaudhry, calling out what he perceived as male chauvinism in his remarks.

Mir told Chaudhry he had seen the “same kind of Pakistani men bowing down in front of female diplomats.”

His comment highlighted the contradiction inherent in Chaudhry’s position about women’s capabilities in professional roles.

Chaudhry attempted to clarify his position by countering that competent women should become scientists or entrepreneurs instead.

He suggested they should pursue careers that didn’t involve “wasting talent for lust of power” as he phrased it.

According to his logic, “cops don’t need to be very capable,” which justified his discouragement of talented women joining the police.

Most people observing the exchange did not see his reasoning or his clarification as reasonable at all. A user questioned:

“Why should half of Pakistan’s entire population stay away from such an important field?”

Others pointed out that Chaudhry had effectively disrespected CTO Khan, who was simply doing her job like any other civil servant.

One user directly asked Chaudhry if he had any actual research to back his broad claim about women police officers.

Another wondered what a world without women in the police force would look like for society overall.

They further questioned how terrible such a situation would be for women and their prospects for advancement.

Some netizens challenged the minister’s original question, asking: “Why did he become a politician?”

Pakistan’s women have made genuine and measurable strides in policing across various ranks and positions despite systemic challenges.

Islamabad Chief Traffic Officer Kainat Azhar Khan herself represents the competence and dedication women bring to law enforcement work.

Shehrbano Naqvi and Amna Baig are among other women who have also made significant contributions to Pakistani policing.

These women have demonstrated their capability and commitment to serving their country through difficult and demanding professional work.

Their achievements mirror the progress that women have made in policing across many countries around the world.

While women are actively breaking barriers, people were not happy with Fawad Chaudhry trying to discourage women publicly.