LAHORE, March 8: One began the day in a spirit of cheer. Why? Because it was meant to be a day dedicated to women. But media reports spoke otherwise; revealing hard-core statistics and figures that told half-truths as all such reports concluded that many crimes against women go unreported in our country. Despite all that has been done in previous years for the cause of women, last year’s statistics said that incidents of violence against womankind have increased.

Still many activities took place in the city in conjunction with the International Women’s Day. One such event was organised by the Women Action Forum, an institute “committed to carry on peaceful struggle for women’s rights and freedom with special emphasis on the right of women to equality and justice.” Gathering people from all walks of life near the WAF monument at Bagh-i-Jinnah, women threw flowers at the memorial and danced to the beat of the drum.

This was followed by a speech delivered by Rehana Taufiq who spoke of all the things great women like Fatima Jinnah did for the womenfolk of that time. It is a fact reiterated again and again - that women in the past enjoyed far more privileges and had many more opportunities. How then did the present state of affairs fall in our fate?

A former president, Ziaul Haq, played an instrumental role in making women bitter to date, for he imposed his own version of Islam over women and society.

The inhumane Hudood Ordinance has been challenged by many and what is waited for is a complete repeal of this law for which many women suffered. They were baton-charged and even put to languish in jails. It is these women who were honoured by the crowd.

Rallying to Alhamra where a special programme dedicated to mothers was shown, another member of the WAF, Rubina Jamil, spoke thus: “Many crimes are meted out to women in rural areas, in villages, in the factories where they work for a living. The government should focus its efforts on forming policies that affect women positively.” Here a comparison was made to the status of working women in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. WAF commits itself to being there for the women masses and to fight for their rights, even at the cost of being jailed as a result, until women get more empowerment, opportunities, added security, good policies, proper salaries and equal treatment at home, workplaces and the country at large.

The plays shown for the numerous anonymous mothers dealt with issues like sexual harassment (by family) and the death of women during childbirth. In many homes, girls are not allowed to go to doctors; instead people prefer to bring maulvis, hakims and midwives to the rescue. And because many a times there are complications in pregnancies and due to a multitude of reasons child-bearing women cannot have normal deliveries, countless women die by such follies.

In many cases, women die when not given proper medical aid in time. There are a very few hospitals around rural, far-flung areas, the routes are long and the roads are not the ideal ones (inducing more pain than actually providing aid in any form). The travel alone results in the death of many a to-be-mother, probably even leaving bereaved children at home. In many instances, even if women reach the hospital safe and sound, they have to undergo a long wait.

These casualties are all avoidable. Basic facilities like education, health, sanitation, mother and childcare, transportation, communications and in short everything can be planned to at least near perfection. And to change that ogre of a mindset which considers women as the weaker sex, as inferior to their own selves, as ridiculous as a different being altogether, women need to start playing an active part in standing up for their rights, not allowing others to suppress their decisions nor giving in to their emotions.