Aurat March 2023

Aurat March 2023:

The sixth edition of the Aurat March was held on 8th March 2023, however, Aurat March Karachi chapter announced that the march would be held on 12th March in Karachi considering ease of attendance for the working class as the latter date fell on a Sunday. The announcement was made via their social media. It read: “Aurat March Karachi will be held on March 12, 2023, this year. We continue to stand in complete solidarity with the Aurat Marches in Hiyderabad, Lahore, Islamabad and Multan that will be held on March 8, 2023.”

Aurat March Islamabad:

Following the research done by climate specialists, Aurat March Islamabad chose to highlight the gendered impact of climate change, while also allowing participants to express their own thoughts and opinions through placards, especially considering that the March was taking place against the backdrop of the devastating 2022 floods. However, even though the march progressed as a peaceful protest, with participants calmly marching in an organized manner, the march was faced with numerous restrictions due to alleged security concerns. Attaining an NOC was one hurdle, and then having to face the police as they tried to disperse the march once again under the excuse of security concerns was another hurdle. Furthermore, the existence of the Haya March nearby was used as a reason to push for the ‘security concern’ narrative by the police, yet the Haya March was given permission to proceed, and it was Aurat March which was being told to remain isolated through the use of barriers and barbed wire. To further make sure the participants would be ‘secure’, they were told there would be arrests if they refused to cooperate.

While the authorities still chose to go with the narrative of wanting to ensure the safety of the women participating, the same group of women were faced with baton-wielding police officers who began forcibly pushing the women back and restricting them from participating in the march. Then, what was supposed to be a peaceful protest which would allow women a safe platform to express their concerns and grief, became a terrifying display of power and oppression. However, individuals who had the power to ensure such unsightly clashes would not occur were unable to provide safety to the civilians of the country, yet they still claimed that the authorities stood with those involved in the march to work towards women’s rights. Where those authorities were when women were being pushed by baton-wielding police officers is a question left unanswered. According to Huda Bhurgri, organizer of Aurat March Islamabad, on the day of march, two police officers came to them and told them that there were security issues. They were also told that they would be in the clear if they wouldn’t negotiate. Bhurgi said that they knew that the police were trying to waste their time (as quoted in The Diplomat).

Aurat March Lahore:

Aurat March Lahore was faced with similar restrictions by authorities, as the organisers were repeatedly told they would not be given an NOC due to security concerns. These security concerns were once again said to be due to the strong opinions of those involved in Jamaat-i-Islaami’s Haya March. It was said that if the participants of the Haya March saw any placards which they disagreed with, it would anger them. However, Aurat March’s peaceful protest was being denied while Haya March which was seen as a potential hub for violent protestors, was given permission to proceed. According to Hiba Akbar, an organiser of the March, the denied NOC was a violation of rights. “This raises questions about the state’s ability to manage the right to freedom of assembly for both groups,’ said Hiba Akbar, as quoted by SheThePeople.

Aurat March Lahore’s Instagram page shared it’s official poster on 20th February 2023, with the message behind the dreamy, colourful poster being “a reimagining of Lahore, one where women’s public presence is celebrated, one full of care and joy”. Then the rejection of the march to proceed becomes a prime example of how women are not given any space in the public sphere of the city. The organisers of the march refused to back down, rightly claiming that it was their right to express their concerns through a peaceful protest as citizens of the country, with the official social media page of the march claiming, “There is no doubt that we will march on March 8th because we will not cede our space- given the extreme violence being perpetrated against women and khawajasira and transgender individuals in this country, we will march because our lives depends on it”.

Aurat March Lahore’s social media pages also placed an emphasis on sharing how participants could keep themselves safe from being portrayed in a negative light by reporters and amateur youtubers. Last year, in 2022, numerous media outlets edited the words said by participants of the march in a way to portray the entire march as an attack on the ideals of the nation.

Aurat March Karachi:

To ensure that the working-class women do not lose out on their day’s wage, the Karachi chapter of the March decided to postpone it to the weekend and thus, instead organized the March on March 12 at Burns Garden.

Aurat March Karachi released their demands in the same social media post they announced the change of date. The post, released on their Instagram and twitter accounts, stated that the March this year will be standing for, “[their] hunger, social security, a living wage, an end to bonded labour, rehabilitation of flood victims, an end to mob violence, an end to domestic violence, the Transgender Persons Protection Act 2018 and to end forced conversions”. The official hashtag for the 2023 Karachi chapter was #RiyasatJawabDouBhookKaHisaabDou. In the same social media post, Aurat March Karachi brought attention to the increasing food prices and petrol hikes that disproportionately impact working class, effectively halting their everyday lives. They highlighted how, while working class families struggle to make ends meet and ultimately starve themselves, the state and the military continue to spend on luxuries such as golf courses, elite housing societies, duplicate and redundant federal & provincial ministries, and continue to maintain the lavish lifestyles of civilian & military officials. They further highlighted how the situation is even more dire for the gendered minorities and the queer community. While hunger and poverty has affected all of Pakistan, it has had a significantly disproportionate impact on cisgender and transgender women, the khawajasira community, trans men, and non-binary persons.

Set against the backdrop of the 2022 floods that devastated the country as well as the rising inflation and political instability, the Karachi chapter put forward seven major demands, leading up to the day of the march. The first demand catered towards ensuring that all workers be given living wage, which is legally enforced – and that refusal of payment should be fined under law. The second demand was a call for cutting down on military expenditure and the money to be redirected to the flood relief fund; the third demand was the immediate rehabilitation of flood victims with provision of social security and monthly stipends catering to all basic needs (such as shelter, food, water, basic health costs) as per Article 38 of the Constitution. The fourth demand covered bonded labor in Baluchistan and Sindh – calling on the government to abolish the practice and also abolish private jails. The fifth demand catered to subsidized shelters and increased funding for existing shelters. They also demanded the government to uphold the 2018 Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights Act), calling attention to the rising violence against the community. Lastly, Aurat March demanded an end to forced conversions and child marriages in Sindh and an immediate implementation of the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act 2023.

In the days leading up to the march, Regular litigant Bisma Naureen approached the Sindh High Court asking it to ban the march om account of immorality, in fear of any slogans raised that may attack the existing socio-cultural norms. However, the SHC turned down the petition. Accordingly, a two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh announced that the petition did not ascertain any valid cause of action and “appeared to be nothing more than an attempt to seek publicity”. The court imposed a cost of Rs25,000 on the petitioner. “Even as far as the particular slogan [Mera Jism, Meri Marzi] cited by the petitioner is concerned, we see nothing objectionable therein, as to our minds it merely seeks to convey the sense of agency and self-efficacy that a woman is entitled to have and exercise over her person and actions, for whilst “feminism” and feminists may sometimes be viewed with opprobrium by those of a patriarchal or conservative bent of mind, it must be remembered that women’s rights are human rights, and in a country based on democratic values, women are entitled to and need to be extended the full measure of freedoms enshrined under the law and Constitution,” the bench ruled.

References

1. https://twitter.com/AuratMarchKHI/status/1630472719690088448?s=20 2. https://thediplomat.com/2023/03/pakistans-aurat-march-2023-another-year-similar-challenges/ 3. https://thediplomat.com/2023/03/pakistans-aurat-march-2023-another-year-similar-challenges/ 4. https://www.shethepeople.tv/news/lahore-bans-aurat-march-2023/ 5. https://www.instagram.com/p/CpMqKWqMKGD/ 6. https://tribune.com.pk/story/2404710/shc-rejects-plea-to-ban-aurat-march-slaps-fine-on-petitioner

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