‘Shameful’: Internet reacts to former Pakistan cricketer Saeed Anwar’s comments about working women

A controversial video of former Pakistan cricketer Saeed Anwar blaming working women for society’s problems has gone viral online. The undated video was shared on X by Ghulam Abbas Shah, a journalist from the BOL network, a Pakistani television network. “The year is 2024, and cricketer Saeed Anwar believes women’s participation in the workforce is a ‘ploy’ to destroy society,” he wrote in X.

In the video, Anwar said he has traveled around the world and seen how people battle drugs and depression in places like Europe and Australia. “The situation is so bad that we have to make women work for money,” said the former Pakistan batsman.

He named New Zealand cricket team captain Kane Williamson and said Williamson had asked him for advice on how to make society better. Mr Anwar also claimed he was told by an “Australian mayor” that their culture had been destroyed since women entered the workforce. Anwar further said that when women started earning their own money, Pakistan’s divorce rate soared by 30 percent within three years.

The 55-year-old woman claimed that she had no qualms about leaving her husband because she boasts that financially independent women run their own households. He concluded by saying that this (women’s participation in the workforce) was a “ploy” to disrupt society.

These comments by Mr. Anwar caused much anger. One X user wrote: “His outdated thinking is a disgrace to progress and equality. It’s scary that in 2024, someone is still clinging to such archaic beliefs and degrading women’s contributions to society. Women working is not a “strategy” but an empowerment and economic necessity. ”

Another said, “So this man is essentially saying he should enslave women and cut off their wings so they can serve men like pets. Who are the people you’re looking for advice from?

Saeed Anwar represented Pakistan in international cricket from 1989 to 2003. He mainly played as an opening batsman in both Test matches and One Day International (ODI) formats. After losing his young daughter to a long illness, he took a break from cricket and became deeply religious. He returned for the 2003 World Cup, but retired from international cricket in the same year.