THERE is a particular exhaustion that comes with defending Maryam Nawaz. Not because she doesn’t deserve defending — she does, frequently, from attacks that are nakedly misogynistic, cruel in ways her male counterparts simply do not experience. I have written about this before. The ‘nani’ taunts, the speculation about her appearance, the AI-generated deepfake images that now circulate on social media with depressing regularity — these are not political critique. They are attempts to destroy a woman by degrading her physical appearance. They are designed not to hold power to account but to remind women everywhere what awaits them if they dare to reach for it. And yet. Here we are again.

Maryam Nawaz, chief minister of Pakistan’s most populous province, a province where children go to school under a toxic smog she has yet to meaningfully address, where hospitals are underfunded and trust in the state is at historic lows — this same CM has reportedly approved the purchase of a dedicated government plane. In a country that went to the IMF with a begging bowl not long ago. In a country where the rupee has lost half its value in two years. In a country where the median monthly income would not cover the catering bill on said aircraft. This is........

© Dawn