Cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan didn’t need the tell-all by his former violated wife Reham Khan to do the damage. He did it himself, by calling feminism a Western import that degraded motherhood, dehumanised women and prevented them from having the most nurturing impact on a child. That he draws sustenance from the ultra radicals for political survival is well-known though it has so far not given him the numbers for getting Pakistan’s top office. But for an iconic cricketer and a man of the world, who, if Reham Khan is to be believed, used his status to indulge in all kinds of masochism and pleasure in the private space, this is a new low in public life. Does Khan know that it is because of feminism that mothers have rightsIJ The right to maternal leave, the right to contribute to society, the right to work in a gender-neutral atmosphere, the right not to be ignored despite merit simply because she chooses to have a child and her right to be a contented, wholesome influence on the world around her and her child —-all of these have been hard-earned by women only because of feminism. And to say such a thing as a Pakistani PM-aspirant certainly doesn’t bode well for his constituency. Or a country that was led by a woman called Benazir Bhutto who had children while in office, and where women from all walks of life have carved a talking point for themselves in civil society. Coming soon as it does on the heels of the crticism of Reham by former President Pervez Musharraf on what women should write and not write, it only goes to show that Pakistani society is itching behind its progressive mask. Remember the influencer-actor Mahira Khan being trolled and forced to apologise for sharing photo space with Ranbir Kapoor in a summer dressIJ Does Khan realise he has devalued himself to unretrievable levelsIJ