LAHORE: It was in September 1981 in Karachi that 17 women decided to put their foot down and fight Gen Ziaul Haq’s patriarchal laws that potentially reduced and compromised a woman’s status in society.

Triggered by the military dictator’s anti-women moves and repression, the Women’s Action Forum (WAF) was formed, hence making it most active at that time. Its Lahore chapter, in particular, has been most dynamic as it has been much more into street activism.

“The iconic march in 1983 happened in Lahore and those of us who ever got arrested throughout WAF history have been from Lahore,” one of the founding members, Nighat Said Khan, told Dawn.

“During Musharraf’s November 2007 emergency, all members of WAF Lahore Chapter were either arrested or placed under house arrest. So the Lahore chapter was considered a threat by the powers that be.”

Nighat further said the reason younger women tend to avoid joining WAF could be that the Lahore chapter evoked fear. Even the younger members who had been arrested in 2007 were terrified because they had not seen all this before, “our generation was more politically active”.

WAF has faced issues to get more women join it in recent times but Nighat is optimistic about the future.

“There’s a future for WAF Lahore. Though Lahore has the most conservative middle class and then all jihadis are also present in Punjab. But all the founding members from the city have been here and they did not leave so I feel that can be intimidating. We’re all the more radical because we’ve all been from political background and involved in political activism all our lives.”

Along with other smaller groups and initiatives, WAF is set to mark on Sunday (today) 35 years of the iconic women’s march of Feb 12, 1983 towards the Lahore High Court against the Zia regime.

Educationist Samina Rehman, who was a participant in the protest march, said the Sunday event aims to be a “celebration in an open space where people can engage with us. I would call it a commemoration, a recommitment. This event will be a rededication for the time to come for all of us to get together and remember that there is a lot to be done”.

Sharing her memories of the historic day in 1983 when women from all walks of life united and decided to challenge the Zia regime, Ms Rehman called it a very empowering time for everyone present there.

“It was unusual. We were breaking silence and challenging the martial law. A lot of it was based on impulse; just the desire to break barriers. It was a very liberating time. When you’re on the street, resisting force and you feel you’re breaking through, there is a moment of hope,” she added.

The event, the Pakistan Women’s Day, will be marked today (Sunday) at Lawrence Gardens with a short walk, skits, poetry and theatre performan.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2018