Sukkur’s Aurat Azadi March demands gender parity

Protesters demand end to Vani, underage marriages

HYDERABAD: Women individually demanding justice through protests and demonstrations may be an ordinary sight in upper Sindh, but on Sunday, thousands of women and men together raised their voices for gender equality in Sukkur's Aurat Azadi March, to mark International Women's Day.

The rally passed through the streets of downtown Sukkur before culminating outside the local press club, where a stage was set for musical performances.

Prof Arfana Mallah and Prof Amar Sindhu, both rights activists who teach at the Sindh University, organised the event along with others.

"Sarasari, barabari aseen ghurun tha aitri, azad fard jaitri [we demand parity, equality as much as they are given to a free person]," remained the march's leading slogan.

On Saturday night, the marchers began their protest with a sea of women rallying while holding up blazing torches and singing Sindhi poetry as they made their demands.

The following day, the participants started marching from Lab-e-Mehran, a bank of River Indus, carrying placards and chanting slogans towards their destination.

"This is a caravan of consciousness and resistance," read a placard. Another read, "Stop Vani and underage marriages."

The participants shouted slogans to demand an end to the culture of honour killing and the provision of equal education opportunities for girls.

"It is our conscious opinion that patriarchy, from the family to the state, creates, sustains and upholds gender-based social and sexual discrimination and befuddles the issue of exploitation of women by stipulating law, culture and religion," reads the march's declaration.

It also calls for economic justice, following political, social and legal rights, stopping violence against women, and ensuring the rights of the minorities.

Economic justice, as demanded by the participants, includes labour rights for women employed in the informal sector, amendments in the Sindh Tenancy Act, distribution of agricultural land among women, and a just irrigation water policy.

Moreover, the participants demanded affordable housing, safe homes for women in all districts of Sindh and implementation of the Transgender Person Act, 2018. Further, they asked to disband the Islamic Ideological Council and the Federal Shariat Court.

Unlike the usual format of such rallies, the event organisers did not allow any speech delivered from the stage. However, a few women who claimed to be victims of rape, enforced disappearance, and other torturous acts took the stage to deliver their messages, moderated by Mallah.

The songs began with a musical rendition of waee [poem] of the Sufi saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. Later, performers sang songs to animate the crowd.

Amid threats against the participants in the days leading up to the event, Sukkur police and local volunteers provided security to the march.

International Women's Day was also observed in other cities of Sindh, with over half a dozen rallies taking place in Hyderabad alone.

However, there were also opposing rallies, countering the Aurat Azadi March, in several cities of the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2020.