‘He is a clueless rape apologist’: Pakistani PM’s ex-wife calls on him to apologize for blaming women’s outfits for rape

It is no surprise at all that Imran Khan would think this way, regardless of his past. The rationale behind the hijab is that a woman must wear it to keep a man from being tempted, and if he is anyway, it’s her fault. So it’s only natural that Imran Khan would assume that if a woman is raped, it’s her fault for dressing provocatively. That’s Islam.

“‘He is a clueless rape apologist’: Pakistani PM Imran Khan’s former wife of a year – ex BBC presenter Reham Khan – brands him a ‘hypocrite’ and calls on him to publicly apologise after he blamed women’s outfits for rape,” by Chris Pleasance and Ross Ibbetson, MailOnline, April 8, 2021:

Reham Khan, the second wife of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, has branded him a ‘rape apologist’ as she lashed out at him for suggesting the way women dress is responsible for rape.

Ms Khan, who was married to the cricketing playboy-turned Pakistani leader between October 2014 and October 2015, told MailOnline that her ex was ‘clueless’ about women’s issues when she met him and described him as a ‘hypocrite’.

The former BBC presenter – who was keen to point out that Khan is her family name and she did not take her husband’s name when they married – also accused her ex-husband of ‘failing miserably’ in his duty to set a role model for men.

She went on to dismiss claims from his office that his words were ‘misconstrued’, saying the remarks are ‘nothing new’ and that he should publicly apologise for them.

‘If you’re in the public domain and you say something like this, it is rape apology, and that is unacceptable,’ she said.

‘This is too frequent. He should apologise and seek some sort of training. There need to be lessons given to the Prime Minister.’

Ms Khan also accused her ex-husband of ‘using religion, particularly Islam’ to secure votes in conservative Pakistan while attacking things such as divorce – despite being twice divorced himself.

She spoke out after Jemima Goldsmith, who was also married to Khan from 1995 until 2004 and has two children with him, tweeted out a passage from the Koran as a rebuke, adding: ‘The onus is on men.’

Khan caused fury at the weekend when he suggested during a Q&A session that ‘vulgarity’ was to blame for rising sexual violence, singling out Bollywood, Hollywood, divorce, and the ‘sex, drugs and rock and roll’ culture of England in the 70s as examples of moral decline.

He then praised the Islamic concept of purdah – or modesty – as an antidote to that decline, saying it is important to ‘keep temptation in check’.

Ms Khan – whose short marriage to Imran crumbled under pressure from family in-fighting, media attacks and her own political ambitions – said the remarks infuriated her but did not come as a surprise.

Recalling her first meeting with Khan, who was then in political opposition, she said the two had discussed women’s issues as something she was passionate about

Ms Khan said she mentioned the notorious New Delhi bus rape which happened in neighbouring India not long before, but Imran had no idea about it.

‘He was completely clueless,’ she said. ‘I looked from him to his chief of staff, I felt awkward that I would be explaining to him.

‘I explained to him, I gave a little bit of detail, and he turns around and says: ‘This is all because of Bollywood you know.’

‘I was shocked, thought he was just clueless and ill-informed.’

She said he made similar comments during their marriage and has given speeches since espousing the same ideas, seemingly without any sense of irony given his past….