LAHORE: The Egerton Road reverberated with loud sloganeering on Tuesday as hundreds of women, transgender persons and men marched from the press club to the PIA office to mark the International Women’s Day.

The procession, which commenced at 2pm under a tight security cover by over 300 police men and women, was primarily led by women and transpersons of all ages and social standings demanding their right to freedom of movement, education, expression, choose their partners and just live their lives on their own terms without being dictated by the men.

Some of the slogans heard were ‘Dekho dekho kaun ayi, aurat ayi aurat ayi’, ‘Jaagi jaagi aurat jaagi’ and ‘Mera jism meri marzi’ among others that seem to hit a nerve in onlooking men, who mocked the marchers as they passed by. Some of the powerful messages inscribed on banners and posters carried by the marching boys and girls read: ‘I’m stronger than fear’, ‘She wasn’t asking for it’, ‘I march for those who couldn’t march’, ‘Just looking for fundamental rights’, ‘Weak men fear strong women’, ‘Asal insaf ghar par shuru hota hai’, ‘Ghareloo tashaddud na-manzoor na-manzoor’, ‘Izzat nahi insaan hai aurat’.

As in previous years, Tuesday’s Aurat March also featured experiential art pieces, one of which comprised cut-outs of Youtube ‘journalists’ accompanied by their quotes denoting misleading coverage of the march, harassment of the participants and sensationalisation of the event. Hanging above the exit point of the march werekurtasinscribed with ages some of the participants were harassed at and the relation with the harasser.

Aurat March event wrapped up because of JI’s walk

At the culmination of the march, participants sat on the road outside the PIA building on Egerton Road, clapping and singing along feminist tappay — a re-imagined version of the classic folk songs: ‘Chitta kukar baneray te, zehri mardangi waleya narmi sajdi tere te’, ‘Gaddi wadh gayi tation nu, kuriyan aiyan sarkan te agg lag gayee nation nu’, ‘Aaloo matar pakaye hoye ne, saaday kolon ton harasser changay jerhay seenay naal laaye hoay ne’.

Later, transgender persons carried a long white sheet with names of their fellows killed over the last year written over it, sprinkled rose petals in their memory and demanded the murders stop. Besides a theatre performance and rendition of the feminist anthem ‘Rapist Ho Tum’, upcoming singer Risham Faiz Bhutta appeared on stage and sang ‘Perhi Kuri’ along with transgender singer Jajji Jee and activist Jannat Ali.

Shaheena Kausar, an activist working for farming and domestic women workers, told Dawn she was there for herself. “I had to fight for my education, to work, marry by choice, travel abroad. So when I come to the march I find a lot of women like me who needed permission to seek an education, work and travel on their own from their parents. I find strength from these women.”

A young student, Sidra, called the march a celebration of being a woman and a fight that “we’re fighting every single day. That’s basically what being a woman is in its entirety”.

Zanaya Chaudhry, a transgender rights activist, believes women’s rights are the same as transpersons’ rights. “So we are here to make our voices heard and to create a space for ourselves.”

However, the Aurat March didn’t come without some disruption. Owing to a simultaneous ‘Women’s Protection Walk’ organised nearby by the Jamaat-i-Islami and their attempts to interrupt the Aurat Marchers, the latter were directed to wrap up much earlier than the scheduled time. After the interruption, the demonstrators proceeded towards Charing Cross, but were stopped midway and told to disperse. An enraged organiser said it was the administration’s responsibility not to allot the ring-wing groups the same route and time.

About the disruption, Sabahat, a marcher, said as time passes, other groups also get organised, which is just part of democracy. “We were suddenly told to leave, so it got chaotic, but the whole point is to come together and vent, as it’s not easy for middle class women to express themselves politically in physical spaces as it is on social media. This is a possibility for younger women from a certain class to occupy physical spaces together.”

A similar march was also held in Multan attended by a large number of men, women, children and transgender persons.

CM Buzdar Meanwhile, in a statement, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said respect and honour of women was an integral part of socio-cultural and religious norms of the Pakistani society, adding the West could not imagine the abundance of rights enjoyed by women in Islam.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2022