Hijab day: Only men give speeches at women’s rally
Some 200 veiled women staged a rally in front of the Lahore Press Club on Tuesday to mark World Hijab Day, but only men gave speeches.
The women were bussed in to the venue by the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) on two buses. The protesters were led by Samia Raheel Qazi, the president of the JI Women and Family Commission, and Afia Sarwar, assistant secretary general of the JI Women’s Wing.
The participants waved placards and banners with statements such as: ‘My niqab, my right’; ‘Hijab empowers women’; and ‘Hijab is our identity’.
JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch and JI Lahore chief Amirul Azeem addressed the participants. No woman gave a speech.
Baloch thanked the participants, saying they had joined in purely for their love of Islam. He said Islam gave high status to women. He said no man was allowed to physically abuse a woman or stop her from getting an education. But, he said, social norms for women and men are different, just as their bodies are different. He said it was wrong to say that the West has given women liberty. In fact, Islam gave women freedom. He said that women were exploited commercially as sexual objects in Western countries and this was not civilised behaviour. He said this practice had also ruined the institution of the family.
Baloch condemned the United States for putting Aafia Siddiqi in prison. He praised a female politician in Turkey who had decided to quit her seat rather than give up her hijab.
He said that reports that Hindu women in Sindh were being forced to convert to Islam were not true, as he had recently visited the area. He said NGOs had spread such stories in a bid to dent the image of Islam. He said Jamaat-i-Islami would work for Islamic rule in Pakistan and no one could stop them.
Azeem said in his speech that the hijab represented a woman’s dignity and was part of Pakistani civilisation. He said anti-Islam elements were always seeking to strike a blow against Islam and they were trying to steal Muslims’ identity from them. He said the West wanted to snatch the hijab from Muslim women, but they must resist.
He criticised advertising agencies and multinational companies for using women in commercials. He said women were appearing “even in commercials for razors”.
The rally ended after about an hour.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 5th, 2012.
COMMENTS (20)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
It must have been a shear conincidence, but at or around the 4th of September I had the pleasure to meet a large group of Arab families who came from the West-Bank to spend a day at Tel Aviv's Banana beach. The woman were wearing their hijabs with pride, and did not had less fun splashing in the sea than the other people at the beach wearing standard swimming suits. I call the foto I made there "Wet Hijab Day" and you may find it at my blog http://persian-cat.de/?p=2675.
Unfortunately, I could not talk to them, since they were not fluently in English. But I all I can say that for them the Hijab seemed to be more part of a traditional way of dressing, rather than a label for a particular religious standard.
@imran: You are misinformed if you recall that after both battle of badr and uhad the muslim women helped nurse the wounded. And after the death of the Holy prophet Muhammad there are many incidents where hazrat Aisha clearified hadith . And you mean to say that a woman isnot allowed by islam to go to a shop and get groceries for her house? Bro i dont know where you are getting you guidance from
Tribune is such a hypocrite news paper, look at the title, they want to present it as something wrong. Just tell who gave speech and people will decide if its right or wrong.
Also putting this article under Punjab section shows how they want to help secterinism. Pathetic.
How can we be so sure that those inside the hijab are really women ?
It could be men also !!!
I think you people are forgetting that "Hearing Woman voice by strangers" is also a sin.
These people are the supporters of taliban in Afghanistan where women are not allowed to leave their homes to work or get educated. so much so that the windows of their homes are painted black so no one can look inside. Is that the strength of our faith that a mere glimpse of a woman can cause us to commit sin?
I agree with Mr Liaqat Baloch that forced conversion is only a propaganda of hunud/yahud sponsored NGOs otherwise any young non muslim will simply convert just by looking/hearing pious people like Liaqat Baloch,Azeem ulamir, Fareed Paracha and so many others in JI and IJT...Allah will have mercy on us all... the sinners
So, the women are pleased with whatever these tyrannical patriarchs are dictating? They are a classic example of Stockholm Syndrome.
Hijabs or no hijab who cares??
There is no such thing called 'Pakistani Civilization'.
Cent Percent Agree! Women should speak for a Women. Men can also say a thing if they are Father or Husband!
"women were exploited commercially as sexual objects in Western countries and this was not civilized behavior. He said this practice had also ruined the institution of the family."
Is this not true?
I respect their right to march in Hijabs, would they respect other people's right to walk in whatever they want?
this is the future that will be upon us, we will become the next iran and saudi !! if the women are so empowered then why ddnt they speak ?so using women in commercials is bad but using women to get votes in polictis is ok?
I'd rather have JI as the ruling party than the corrupt failure that is PPP.
That says it all. Next what? A banner proclaiming karo kari is my right and pride? Is the hijab preventing girls' schools from getting blown up all across Pakistan each month?
biased reporting.
BTW how could any woman 'SPEAK' with such hijab:P
God please save us from JI's Islam!