Karachi district administration issues 28-condition NOC for Aurat March's Sunday gathering at Sea View

Karachi's district administration has issued a conditional no-objection certificate (NOC) to Aurat March for its upcoming public gathering with 28 conditions, including clauses on the clothing of participants and the text written on posters, drawing sharp criticism from the organisers, it emerged on Saturday.

The controversy comes after a press conference organised by Aurat March on Tuesday was disrupted due to the detention of several organisers.

South District Deputy Commissioner Javed Nabi Khoso later granted permission through an NOC dated May 8, allowing the Aurat March to organise its event on Sunday from 3:30-7:30pm at Sea View. The event is scheduled to coincide with Mother's Day on May 10.

Among the conditions laid out in the NOC was a ban on "objectionable clothing", a prohibition on the promotion of LGBTQ content and restrictions on anti-state and anti-religious slogans, banners, and speeches.

According to the NOC, no "hateful, provocative, unethical, or anti-social material" was to be displayed on charts, banners or flexes, and no speaker should deliver speeches against the "ideology of Pakistan", state policies or the military.

Read: Cops suspended over Aurat March crackdown

Participation or representation of any banned organisations was also strictly prohibited. No sectarian activity or speech that incites hatred among groups or hurts public sentiments would be allowed, and the permission to hold the event might be revoked without assigning any reason.

The remaining conditions pertained to security and logistics. Organisers were required to arrange volunteers for screening participants, restrict entry and exit to one designated location, and ensure vehicles entering parking areas — to be established at least 200 yards from the main venue — were thoroughly scanned.

Further, the NOC stated that a bomb disposal squad would conduct a technical sweep of the venue, with metal and explosive detection equipment to be used.

The Loudspeaker Ordinance was also to be strictly followed, while public movement and traffic must not be obstructed, especially on major roads and key passageways. The NOC also prohibited aerial firing and the use of drugs and alcohol during the event.

In case of any untoward incident or law and order situation, route or venue dispute, or security issue, the NOC states that the organiser alone would be responsible and bear all legal consequences at their own risk and expense.

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Organisers must also provide a copy of the NOC to the relevant police officials, brief them about the complete nature of the event regarding security and share a list of volunteers, the NOC reads.

It added that the organisers should follow instructions from law enforcement agencies/district administration, who may change the route or venue if necessary, or order the event to end early.

Social activist Mehnaz Rahman, associated with the Aurat March, said that never before had an NOC been issued with so many conditions and restrictions, adding that Aurat March would soon release its official stance on the matter.

Reacting to the development, the group said in a post on social media that its politics remained unchanged since its inception.

"We continue to witness political space shrinking year after year, alongside increasing state repression and brutality. In such conditions, movements like ours are constantly forced to think about how to continue building collective power without increasing danger for the very communities we stand beside, while also refusing to cede whatever little space remains, to oppressive forces.

"The space we have built for dissent has come through years of collective struggle. We reject the state's labelling of groups and movements that are not legally banned as 'proscribed'. As a feminist movement, we believe such rhetoric threatens constitutional rights, democratic freedoms, and the possibility of collective political struggle itself."

The group said it would continue to build alongside marginalised communities in ways visible and hidden until the day people could speak freely without facing danger for doing so.

The post said that the demand laid out in the NOC that no slogan be provocative, unethical, or anti-social, "bears no understanding of how protests work". It stated, "protests, especially those calling out power structures such as patriarchy, are bound to be provocative."

Aurat March Lahore added that the broad language prohibiting "anti-state slogans" or "ideology of the state or politics of the state" was deliberate, aimed at forcing self-censorship and extending restrictions on freedom of expression beyond their constitutional meaning.

They also pushed back on the ban on "objectionable clothing", saying that the Sindh government "has also chosen to police the clothing of participants". It stated that "the state cannot dictate how people dress during and outside protests."

On the ban on a rights group, the statement said the organisation was being falsely described as proscribed, calling it "a woman-led, peaceful movement that has demanded basic human rights".

The requirement to share a list of volunteers was also condemned as "another blatant attempt to widen the net of state surveillance of movements". The statement added that anyone volunteering for a social movement or collective working towards social change "should be accorded their right to privacy and we must resist this state overreach into out movement spaces".

"It is clear as day that these NOC terms have little to do with the security or welfare of the public attending Aurat March, it is a means to control and dilute the politics of the march," the statement reads.

It concluded by stating, "If the Sindh government fails to respect Aurat March Karachi's unconditional right to march, then we will hold them accountable."