‘We work till 1 am in night and still produce so many babies', Pakistani minister's outlandish comment goes viral

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A video of Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif is going viral on social media. In this video, Asif comes up with an outlandish theory about population boom.

Addressing a press conference, the Pakistani minister made a statement about how early closure of marketplaces impacts population growth.

"Jahan pe 8 baje market bandh hoti hain wahan pe bacchon ki tadad kaam hai paida hone ki," Khawaja Asif can be heard telling reporters.

What he said roughly translates to, "The places where markets close down by 8 pm, less babies are born there."

Asif then goes on to laud Pakistanis for their “efficiency” in producing so many kids despite shutting shops and working till 1 am in night. For the record Pakistan has one of the highest total fertility rates in the world at around 3.78.


Journalist Naila Inayat posted the video on Twitter, captioning it "New research, babies can’t be made after 8 pm. “There’s no population increase in countries where markets close at 8 pm,” defence minister."

The video gained a lot of attention and went massively viral. The matter-of-fact tone of the Pakistani minister and the confidence with which he asserted that the early shutting of markets caused a drop in the birth rate at a news briefing made it even more hilarious. The clip attracted a lot of sarcastic remarks.


"This is a brilliant finding by the Pak government's research. It is a genius contribution to humanity. They should be given the highest award of the scientific research field in the world," quipped a user.


“Fantastic observations by #Pakistan #defence-minister. Listen his empirical argument on population control and early closure of markets! Shame on the #socialscientists for not listening him before!!! LOL (sic),” another user joked.


The remark was probably made on the back of a recent decision taken by Asif where he ordered all malls and markets to close by 8:30p.m.


Cash-strapped Pakistan had on Tuesday announced early closure of markets and wedding halls as part of a raft of measures under a new energy conservation plan as the government struggled to revive the economy.


Briefing the media after a meeting of the cabinet which approved the National Energy Conservation Plan to save energy and decrease dependence on imported oil, defence minister Asif said markets, including restaurants, would close at 8.30pm while wedding halls would shut doors by 10.00pm respectively, which will "save us Rs 60 billion".

Well, enough said!