- WEB DESK
- October 31, 2026
Maryam Nawaz gets online support after Safdar’s ‘cure it yourself’ remark on women with cancer
-
- WEB DESK
- October 31, 2026
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has posted about the silent struggles of women battling illness, days after a video of her husband, Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar, speaking about women with cancer drew criticism on social media.
“Heartbreaking. The silent battles a woman, a wife, fights behind closed doors… The strength she must find even when she feels like breaking. Some battles are fought in silence, and some wounds are invisible,” she wrote on X. She did not mention Safdar by name.
The video shows Safdar addressing a religious gathering, where he referred to the slogan “Mera Jism Meri Marzi” (My body, my choice) while discussing women diagnosed with cancer.
“I say, if it’s your body, then it’s your choice. So when they fall ill and get cancer, one says it’s cancer of this part, another says it’s cancer of that part. Well, if it’s your body, then cure it yourself. The body belongs to God, doesn’t it? Then, at that time, they say, ‘Maulvi sahab, pray for me, blow a prayer over some water for me, do dum,” he said in the clip which is being circulated widely.
Users criticised the remarks as insensitive towards cancer patients. One user who shared the clip noted that Safdar’s mother-in-law, Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, died after a prolonged battle with cancer. She died in September 2018.
Maryam’s post drew messages of support from users, who expressed sympathy for women dealing with cancer and backed her remarks amid the controversy.
