In Imran Khan's 'Naya Pakistan', Women Forced to Wear Dupatta Before Entering Govt Buildings

Imran Khan, in his campaigning for the Pakistan elections, had said that he wanted to create a ‘Naya Pakistan’. While Khan did become the next prime minister, the dawn of progressive change remains to be seen in the country with women being barred from entering government offices without wearing a headscarf or a dupatta.

Twitter user Sidra Butt took to the micro-blogging platform to document her experience at the Punjab Civil Secretariat in Lahore where she was denied entry for not wearing a dupatta.

According to Sidra, the orders came at the behest of Primary and Secondary Healthcare Minister of Punjab, Dr Yasmin Rashid.

In a video accompanying the tweet, a guard tells Sidra that she cannot enter without a dupatta as Dr Yasmin had asked for it. When Sidra demands for a written order, the guard says that the minister had “called in and told verbally.” He further clarifies that the minister passed that order after a woman came to meet her in an inappropriate dress.

After several Twitter users criticised the order, Dr Yasmin took to Twitter to announce that she had in fact never issued any such order. She said that the guard had been issued a show cause notice and an investigation had been put in place.