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Singer Falak Shabir called on Saturday for action against people who wear “short dresses in the bazaars and streets” of Punjab. While the singer later insisted that he was making a very general statement, his request to Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz drew the ire of many people, including some of the CM’s own party members.

Hina Parvez Butt, a lawmaker from Maryam’s PML-N and the chairperson of the Punjab Women Protection Authority, asked when “the minds of people like Falak Shabir will stop fixating on women’s clothing” in a post on X.

She drew a comparison between Pakistan and Turkiye, saying nobody in Istanbul comments on women’s clothes, “but here in Pakistan, anyone who feels like it jumps on social media and starts mouthing off.”

The lawmaker said this mentality was exactly what was keeping Pakistan from progressing. She asked people to do society a “great service” and “mind their own business”.

Shabir made his strange demand in a story posted on Instagram asking “as a father of two daughters” for the CM to make a law against people wearing short dresses. He seemed convinced that not doing so would lead to “cultural ruin”.

Reactions were mixed, with some celebrating the story as the rallying call for a cultural crusade, others felt he wasn’t being misogynistic because he never specifically mentioned women. Many — us included — were left questioning what he was talking about; who was roaming the streets of Punjab in short dresses anyway?

He later clarified with a picture of women in… crop tops. “This pick (sic) should be enough to explain and I am sure everyone in Pakistan has seen this clip,” the singer said.

He also posted screenshots of people agreeing with his original story, probably in an attempt to counter all the backlash he had been getting publicly.

“It’s not just me, hundreds of thousands of people are worried for their children’s future,” he said with his eight messages of support.

Addressing the misogyny allegations, Shabir said his statement wasn’t about any one gender but meant for “all kind of genders that are available in the market” — we really didn’t think this could get worse but we were wrong.

The singer said if someone interpreted it differently, that was their perspective, but the “intent was clear” from his side. He asked for people to “keep the context intact”.

Shabir isn’t the first man to try to police clothing — women’s or otherwise — in Pakistan and he unfortunately will not be the last. But in the face of so many other problems — including a sharp uptick in violence against women — are there really no bigger issues for him to talk about?