ISLAMABAD: The organisers of Aurat March in the capital vowed on Friday to go ahead with their planned event, and hold a rally from the National Press Club to D-Chowk today (Saturday), despite not receiving formal permission from the administration.
“We will have our show outside the National Press Club as per previous years and will try to march towards D-Chowk to mark the occasion [of International Women’s Day],” rights activist Dr Farzana Bari told Dawn on Friday night.
Dr Bari, who is also one of the main organisers of the march, said they had submitted a formal application to the Islamabad administration months ago, seeking permission to hold the march from NPC to D-Chowk, but had not received a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for the event so far.
She said the march organisers had also written to PM Shehbaz Sharif, requesting him to direct the Islamabad administration to issue an NOC for the event.
Instead, Dr Bari said, the administration had been asking them to postpone the event in view of the holy month of Ramazan.
She said the organisers had already decided to mark the event with simplicity, without any music or other fanfare, in order to respect sanctity of the holy month.
However, she said, it would not be possible for them to surrender their right to observe the day, which came around only once a year.
She said they had given a call for participants to gather in front of the press club at 1pm and would “make an attempt to march towards D-Chowk” around 4pm.
In their open letter posted to Instagram, the march’s organisers had informed the premier that despite countless efforts seeking an NOC for the past six years, they were “denied the safety and right to protest”.
“In the past, our organisers have faced brutalisation in the hands of religious fundamentalist groups, police and Islamabad administration, sending a very negative message to the international community regarding [the] status of women’s rights in Pakistan,” the letter said.
Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2025
