KARACHI: The launch of the Uks Diary 2023, here on Saturday, which marked the 25th anniversary of the Uks Research, Resource and Publication Centre on Women and Media, also marked Human Rights Day besides bringing up many memories including how the organisation started its work of creating awareness in the media of how to report on gender issues.

This year’s Uks Diary is based on the theme of ‘Women in Pakistan: 75 Years and Beyond!’

On the occasion of the diary launch, book publisher Ameena Saiyid, journalist and writer Zohra Yusuf and psychologist Asha Bedar also shared some of their own memories and experiences that stayed with them.

“As a youngster in Karachi, I had this hobby of cycling. One while cycling on the road I saw Miss Fatima Jinnah and pedalled up to her. She also saw me and I smiled. There was no protocol or anything to keep me from approaching her. Once me and my cousin cycled to Shaheed-i-Millat Road and from there we pedalled up to the airport and back. Karachi was such a nice and safe place for even young girls like us on their own,” said Ameena Saiyid, adding that now girls can only find open and empty roads during curfews or during a situation such as the recent Covid-19 pandemic.

Zohra Yusuf spoke of growing up in Dhaka. “For us Dhaka was quite backward compared to Karachi. Karachi was like Paris for us,” she said.

Uks launches 2023 Diary themed on ‘Women in Pakistan: 75 Years and Beyond!’

Asha Bedar spoke about growing up in Lahore in the 1980s, which turned out to be a very confusing time for her. Her mother was a women’s rights activist. “Sometimes I would also receive taunts of being from Ziaul Haq’s generation where the dupatta was a compulsory accessory. The dupatta was also compulsory in my college, the Kinnaird College so we went through that confusing and transitional time of restrictions and conservative atmosphere,” she said, while adding that she also watched her mother and aunts planning protests and she would also be excited to be a part of that kind of rebellion also though she didn’t understand everything at the time.

According to the Uks director, their very first diary, published in 1998, was titled ‘Women of Pakistan: Fifty Years and Beyond’ as Pakistan was 50 years old then.

That diary paid homage to all the women in Pakistan who were the first ones at something or the other such as first woman taxi driver, first woman television producer, announcer, dentist, pilot, engineer and so on. And now when Pakistan is 75 years old, they have this latest edition that looks back at all the women who struggled and stood up for their rights and their dreams despite huge hurdles. It documents the important role women played in politics, activism, the media, national development, especially the economy and their continued struggles in breaking the norms.

“We want to show our gratitude to every woman who has been part of this roller coaster journey towards equality. The last 75 years have not been easy. May the next milestone be celebrated in an equal and just society,” she said.

Like the women of Pakistan, Uks has also come a long way in the last 25 years. Starting with working on spreading awareness among the print media about how to report on women issues and on the visual projection of women in print, they turned to the electronic media as the 24/7 news channels were born.

“During the 2005 earthquake, we saw so much insensitivity, the showing of the limbs of the dead, and even capturing the last moments of a woman’s life on a channel for ratings, which needed to be sensitised,” she said, adding that their work was ongoing as now there was the social media that had no idea of media ethics especially when it came to dealing with women or their issues. “An example of this is seeing how any outspoken woman whose views someone or the other doesn’t agree with is trolled and verbally abused on social media,” she pointed out.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2022