ISLAMABAD: There was no confrontation between men and women in the country, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Monday. “The government did not take sides over the Aurat March,” she said in reply to queries by lawmakers at an emergency meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on information and broadcasting.

Some of the legislators drew Dr Awan’s attention to slogans that they found “unethical and contrary to our family values”.

The committee had met to focus exclusively on the reasons for, and impact of, slogans like “Mera Jism Meri Marzi” adopted by organisers of the Aurat March.

The Special Assistant on information and broadcasting said it was a fact that society “discriminates against women and so they have to struggle for their rights”.

She alleged that workers of the JUI-F, the outlawed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat and students, as well as teachers, of Jamia Hafsa had attacked participants of the Aurat March in Islamabad on Sunday.

“We neither support slogans like `Mera Jism Meri Marzi’ nor do we side with baton-wielding marchers,” Dr Awan emphasised.

The government did not take sides over the Aurat March, PM’s special assistant tells NA body

She praised television channels for adhering to directives given by Pemra regarding the Women’s Day coverage. “But the challenge we faced was related to social media since it is a common practice there to ridicule people and hurl insults at them,” Dr Awan added.

She stressed the need for regulating social media and requested the committee to invite the Pakistan Telecom­munication Autho­rity (PTA) chairman for consultations during the next meeting.

Mian Javed Latif, who belongs to the PML-N and heads the committee, called upon the information ministry to launch an awareness campaign about laws regarding protection of women.

Members of the committee noted that it was citizens’ right to highlight their grievances, but any such activity “should not cross the boundaries set by Islam and the Constitution”.

The members expressed concern over the debate related to Aurat March and criticised the media and the Pemra for “not handling the issue properly”.

Syed Aminul Haq of the MQM–Pakistan said his party supported all existing laws on women and had always called for their implementation. The committee decided to invite the owners of all television channels to its next meeting to thrash out a strategy for making the coverage of such events compatible with the need for disseminating the country’s soft image.

Saleem Beg, the Pemra chief, said in reply to the criticism that the regulator would issue notices to all channels which had violated the code of conduct while covering the event.

Case registered

Police have registered a case against 11 clerics on a complaint filed by the Islamabad administration that students of Jamia Hafsa and other religious groups, including the JUI-F and the Sunni Ulema Council, had used the name of a banned group, the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, during their “Haya march” organised in opposition to the Aurat march.

According to the complainant, around 400 men and women held a demonstration in front of the National Press Club, during which they raised slogans to “incite their supporters into action against participants of the Aurat march”. However, no arrest was made by police till late on Monday night.

The Women’s Action Forum, which organised the Aurat March, criticised the administration for “failing to arrest those who tried to disrupt our rally”.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2020