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Remembering women for a day
You don’t have to look at her burnt body to understand the pain. You don’t need to ask the little girl mopping the floor why she has blisters on her hands, why she works when others her age go to school. You don’t have to ask any of these questions. All the candid shots presented in the photo exhibition held on International Women’s Day tell you the story of the life of a female in developing countries.
While some show the plight of women, others show their accomplishments and significance in society. Along with pictures of women working in fields, factories and houses, there are those of politicians, lawyers, office workers, business executives, actresses, singers, dancers, etc. They are women fighting their own wars for what is rightfully theirs – respect in society. Perhaps that was why the photographer, also a woman, didn’t think it necessary to include captions. It was quite a different display from Aliya Nisar’s usual work. The sensitivity with which it was carried out brought out her best.
Outside in the courtyard of the YMCA, where the event was being held, there were further lessons on awareness about women’s issues. Purple – the colour of royalty — dominated the stage decorations. The views expressed by the speakers, Anis Haroon, Zaheda Hina, Shamim Mumtaz Wasi and Rahila Tiwana, spoke of the many faces of injustice imposed upon women today.
A mushaira or poetry recital that followed also brought the subject into focus. In her poem Jane kab woh waqt ayega, Sahar Hasan described the plight of a delicate girl having to tolerate all kinds of looks and comments by insensitive men. The poem, Yeh sadi khawateen ki sadi hai by Siraj Tasneem, spoke of a new dawn bringing with it new hopes for women. There were also poems on Karo Kari. Fatima Hasan’s Sassi phir mar gayee and Meri beti chalna seekh gai were quite touching. Since Fehmida Riaz and Attiya Dawood couldn’t attend, Aliya Nisar, whose photo exhibition was being appreciated inside, requested to be allowed to read one of her poems. Her poem was about this single day being set aside for women out of the 365 in a year. Still, she said it was enough as long as no injustice was inflicted on the fairer sex on this day — which is still too much to hope for.
The second play performed was about a young girl with stars in her eyes. She is forced to stop her education and is married off to someone who doesn’t want to work and sits idle all day. When she complains, the husband gets angry and throws acid on her. The play ends with her heartrending wails
Beena Sarwar’s documentary on human rights and the rights of women was being shown inside the hall, but to go watch that, one was expected to forgo seeing the theatrical performances outside. Two theatre groups entertained the audience with their thoughtful skits. Nausheen Raza, Asghar Ali and Sohail Shoaib representing the Now Theatre Group, put on an interesting show about a lady lawyer, an office executive and a factory worker. When Nausheen, who was playing all the female parts kept coming up on stage again and again, Shoaib, who played Bachcha Jamhoora, pointed out to his Ustad (Ali) that it was the same girl. “Nonsense!” said the ustad, “It is not the same one. All women look the same, that’s all.” This deliberate comment showed how men view females. The Ustad and Jamhoora play, which was directed by Wajih Warsi, must have given strength to many hearts as in all the different roles, the woman scared the daylights out of the men.
The second play performed by the Raho Theatre Group was about a young girl with stars in her eyes. She is forced to stop her education and is married off to someone who doesn’t want to work and sits idle all day. When she complains, the husband gets angry and throws acid on her. The play ends with her heartrending wails. The audience consoled themselves with the fact that it was all just a play and the poor wife (very ably played by Hafza Fatima) was only acting out a role. But the reality of the matter is much different.
For this scribe, the climax came when the woman seated on my left answered her mobile phone. The caller was probably her husband. From what she was saying, one could gather that he was telling her to come home as it was getting late and he was hungry. “But I want to watch the programme. It is not over yet,” she protested. To whatever his reply was, she said, “I can’t cook that now, I don’t even have onions at home. Listen, why don’t we eat out today?” Her idea must have been rejected because she then started to gather her things while saying, “okay, I am coming. I’ll buy some onions on the way.” Maybe the theatre performance wasn’t real, but this was definitely reality.
A song about exposing injustices and pledging to no longer remain silent must have given hope and encouragement to many present. Near the end of the programme there was a session of ghazals sung by Raheela. But by that time most of the people had left for their homes. The programme was organized by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) for People’s Rights.
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