Women need a platform, equal access to public realm: Armeena Khan responds to Aurat March critic

Actor posted note on Instagram replying to user questioning the point of the march

Bin Roye actor Armeena Khan recently took to Instagram to respond to an Aurat March critic about all the ways the protest aims to bring about substantial positive change. After a user direct messaged Armeena on the photo-sharing app, asking her how the march is an effective way to fight the patriarchy, the actor replied with a detailed note of her own. Deeming protests “an established historical mechanism to enact socio-political change”, Armeena aimed to counter the user’s remarks about how “only men can bring [about] real change” and that “already privileged” women marching in support of those less fortunate is ineffective. 

In the message, the user questioned how Aurat March can bring change in the lives of women who are “oppressed, raped, harassed in offices, workplaces, and even schools and madrasas, [and are] murdered, abused and killed in the name of honour”. The message further reads, “A man who kills his daughter brutally will not, in any way, be affected by this march.” 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Armeena Khan (@armeenakhanofficial)

The user concluded, “I think that only men can bring the real change. They can be the chain-breakers only if they want to. [I] want to know your thoughts [on this].”

Armeena, sharing screenshots of the messages in an Instagram post, wrote in the caption in reply, “This message was sent to me on Insta by Khadija. I felt it needed more than just a story post, so here is my response.”

She wrote, “Killing, raping and denying basic human rights for women and girls is unacceptable. We can agree on that. Change is required. We can agree on that. But, not everyone understands this change, so we can agree it needs to be communicated to wider society.”   

Responding to the user’s message about how only men can bring substantial change, Armeena continued, “Women are the best placed to decide what this change should look like. Women need a platform, a voice and equality of access to the public realm.” She added, referencing the 20th Century American feminist movement that advocated for women’s right to vote, “Marches and protests are an established historical mechanism to enact socio-political change the world over, e.g. the suffragettes.”

Deeming Aurat March a part of a larger “range of actions required”, Armeena asserted that the march is not the “complete solution”. She concluded her note with a defence of “privileged” women taking part in the protest. The actor wrote, “As for privileged and educated women being part of the Aurat March, they are part of the movement because they are women. Their social position doesn't disqualify them. It's like saying Jinnah shouldn't have marched for the establishment of Pakistan because he was a westernised, educated, privileged man who had little in common with a poor Subcontinent Muslim."