Be free, be fierce, have fun!
It’s again that time of the year when the air is heavy with mixed sentiments, though in our country this is not limited to any single occasion, especially when it concerns women. But when it comes to Women’s Day and holding of Aurat March while women prepare for the march, people from various segments of society come forward to oppose it, even demanding the government to ban such an event, claiming it to be against Islamic teachings.
Ever since the Aurat March began in 2018, it has come under fire from various quarters — some have objections to the slogans raised, while some object to the women singing and dancing and some even to the women coming out and expressing themselves. A couple of years back, Minister for Religious Affairs, Noorul Haq Qadri, wrote a letter to then Prime Minister asking him to ban Aurat March and declare the day as International Hijab Day. However, thankfully, he acknowledged the importance of International Women’s Day in raising awareness about women’s rights.
What is Aurat March?
The Aurat March is an annual socio-political demonstration to observe International Women’s Day (IWD), commemorated globally to fight for the rights of women and ending all forms of discrimination.
The International Women’s Day is celebrated globally as a focal point in the women’s rights movement. It is a day to recognise women’s achievements regardless of national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political divisions. It focuses on issues such as gender equality (equal pay, equal economic opportunity, equal legal rights), reproductive rights, subsidised child care, and prevention of violence against women. It celebrates how far women have come in society, in politics and in economics, as well as to raise awareness of continued inequality.
IWD originated from labour movements in North America and Europe in 1908, when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. The UN began celebrating International Women’s Day in 1975 — the International Women’s Year. In 1977, the UN General Assembly invited member states to proclaim March 8 as an official UN holiday for women’s rights and world peace.
Despite making some progress towards gender equality such as greater participation of women in the workforce, reserved seats in the parliament, and pro-women, women in Pakistan are still subjected to domestic violence, abuse, honour killing, discrimination, usurpation of inheritance rights, and sometimes even denial of basic rights. It is unfortunate that in our country millions of girls are condemned to a lower quality of life, simply because they were born female.
With the aim to initiate a nationwide dialogue about women’s rights in Pakistan, Aurat March was organised collectively by various women’s organisations on International Women’s Day,
In 2018, the first march was held in Karachi and subsequently began to be held in other major cities too. Gradually it has evolved into a social movement for women’s rights and advocates for greater accountability for violence against women and supports women who experience violence and harassment in public spaces, at home, and in the workplace.
Why Aurat March?
“The status of women in our society and the backlash they face is why Aurat March is needed,” says human rights activist, Zohra Yusuf. It is an expression of determination that emerged from the frustration of their situation and problems women are facing, she adds.
One can question what has been achieved yet through this. “Aurat March started just a few years ago and such movements need time to show results,” reminded Yusuf. Since people are responding to it one way or the other (positive or negative) we can say that people have begun to recognise women’s situation. “It has succeeded in creating awareness as we can see more and more women and also men participating in these marches held in many cities,” says Yusuf. “And it is not just modern, Westernised women, but women from all sections of society, like working women, housewives, and even older women are coming out.”
Whether it will have any effect on the lives of the poor, marginalised women, especially in rural areas, who continue to suffer, Yusuf says that though it has not had any effect right away, it will happen in the times to come. “If privileged women take the lead, it will help women in rural areas in the long run.”
Yusuf explained that we have several pro-women legislations that are a result of long and sustained struggle by women. The credit for these laws can’t go to the parliamentarians alone. It was not that parliamentarians just came up and passed the laws; years of women’s struggle are behind them.
Despite the passage of several pro-women laws such as Anti-Rape Ordinance 2020, the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010, the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 and Prevention of Anti-Women Practices Act 2011, regressive social attitudes and an apathetic legal system are major obstacles in their implementation.
Women under this movement are increasingly stepping out of their homes and seeking to regain control over their lives. Their demands include economic justice, provision of maternity leave and day-care centres to ensure their inclusion in the labour force, as well as recognition of their participation in agriculture, access to a fair judicial system, access to public spaces, etc.
Placards and slogans
While Aurat March has brought discussion of issues such as consent and women’s sexuality and the right to their own bodies to the forefront, it has also come under fire and accused of spreading vulgarity and obscenity, and challenging the natural order of society. It is said that the posters/slogans do not reflect the Pakistani society and culture.
The slogan that has attracted most criticism is mera jism meri marzi (my body, my choice). Contrary to general or critics’ perception, it does not mean that women want to roam around the streets and show off. What it actually means is that women have the right to protect their bodies from being violated and no one has the right to violate it without consent. In a society where women are frequently sexually harassed, where girls as young as four years old are raped, objection to women’s right to protect their bodies is not understandable. Women have a right to wear what they want, to cover themselves as much as they want; if they want, to even cover it from head to toe they should be able to do so. For instance, when in February 2022 a girl, Muskan, in Indian state of Karnataka, defied the ban on Hijab, her bravery was lauded in Pakistan, saying that it was her choice to cover herself. So, if women in Pakistan are asking for the right to exert their choice to decide if they want to allow anyone to violate their body, why should there be an objection to it? The slogan simply means consent, i.e. no one even if it’s a close relative has the right to touch a girl/woman if it makes her feel uncomfortable.
When women say mera jism meri marzi, they want others to give women, in Pakistan or anywhere in the world, the right to choose just not their attire but everything that concerns them.
The slogan also draws attention to women’s right to reproductive health; a woman should have the right to decide when and how many children to have, and it should be up to her to decide if she wants to use contraceptives or not. So what is wrong in saying aurat bacha paida karney ki machine naheen (a woman is not a baby-making machine) — another slogan raised in the march.
Women raise their voices during these marches because they are not getting thedue rights promised to them by the Constitution of Pakistan as well as by our religion. Despite the fact that Islam has given a lot of rights to women, society denies them these rights, such as their right to inheritance, initiating the slogans ‘Islam ne tu huqqooq day diye, Mussalman kub den gay’ (Islam gives all the rights when will Muslims and society give them?), ‘Jahez nahin property mein hissa’ (not dowry but share in property), ‘Beti dil mein, beti will mein’ (Daughter in heart should also be in the will).
Though some slogans or placards can be said to be offensive to sensitive eyes and ears, most only mean to draw public attention to women’s rights and equality. Slogans such as ‘Our rights are not up for grabs, neither are we’, ‘Girls just wanna have fundamental rights’, ‘Consent ki tasbeeh rozana parhen’, ‘Beti ko parhney do’ (let the daughter study), ‘Meri shadi ki naheen pehlay meri taaleem ki fikr karo’ (don’t worry about my marriage, worry about my education), ‘Hamara mutalba: yaksan kaam, yaksan ujrat (our demand: equal work, equal pay), and ‘Jab tak aurat tang rahegi, jang rahegi jang rahegi’ (The struggle will continue until women rise up) only talk about basic rights and are quite harmless. What’s the harm in saying ‘These are my streets too’ to claim public spaces?
Over the years, it feels good that many men also come to support their daughters, wives, sisters or simply because they believe that women have the right to make their own choices. At one of the marches a boy was seen holding a placard that read “I march because my sister says ‘Kash mein larka hoti’ (I wish I was a boy). Likewise, a man was holding a poster Humara mazhab beti ko rehmat kehta hai (our religion calls a daughter a blessing). Another boy was holding a card saying ‘Paratha rolls, not gender roles!’, which just shows solidarity with women who do not want to remain confined to gender roles.
While women are campaigning and rooting for their rights despite opposition, it is heartening to see men, albeit a few, are supporting them. One can hope that women’s struggle will bear fruit and the impact of the little success that has been achieved will soon begin to trickle down to the marginalised and rural women too.
Till then, let’s march on!
Rizwana Naqvi is a freelance journalist and tweets @naqviriz; she can be reached at naqvi59rizwana@gmail.com
All facts and information are the sole responsibility of the writer