KARACHI: Aurat March, the annual feminist movement in Pakistan, will this March 8 be returning to their original venue at Frere Hall where the first two marches took place in 2018 and 2019.

Organised by Hum Aurtein, this year’s Aurat March would be somewhat different as it will be an ‘Ehtejaji Mela’, a festival of protest, alongside the traditional march, organisers told a press conference here at the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday.

They said the aim is to facilitate in-depth discussions around class, gender, ethnicity, and religion. The march will commence at 2.45pm on Friday (tomorrow).

According to Sheema Kermani, who heads Hum Aurtein, the Aurat March and the Ehtejaji Mela are important because they can counter the misogynistic atmosphere that women are finding themselves in now.

“We are witnessing a sexist attitude, a misogynist thinking which looks down on women, hates women,” she explained. “We want to address this anti-feminist, women-hater, male chauvinist mindset through the Aurat March and the Ehtejaji Mela,” she added.

“The Ehtejaji Mela will provide a platform for engaging with political art that prompts reflection on various social issues. Additionally, the event seeks to redefine leisure as a feminist way of life. There will deep conversations around class, gender, ethnicity, identity, religion, missing persons, home-based workers and transgender persons,” Kermani explained.

This year, the event will also include food stalls set up by women. The food items being sold at these stalls will be very affordable so that all visitors from all class backgrounds are able to afford and enjoy them.

All men who would like to join the march this year can only do so if they are accompanied by at least two women or two transgender persons in order to be allowed entry.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2024