Women's Day celebrations

Despite threats by certain religious groups to stop this year's Aurat March, the International Women's Day was celebrated with greater enthusiasm than the last year. Various women's organisations, civil society groups and political parties held rallies and marches in cities, big and small, including Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Sukkur, Karachi and Quetta. Except for a minor incidence of violence in Islamabad created by some people suspected to be activists of a religious party whose leader had exhorted his party men to stop the rights march and be ready for 'sacrifices', all events passed peacefully, thanks to effective security arrangements. Although the incident did not cause any injuries, the administration in the capital city acted responsibly, deciding to register a case against the troublemakers.

Some regressive elements could not ignore the spirit of the rights awareness day, either, even if as a counter-action. Students of Lal Masjid's seminary, Jamia Hafsa, organised a gathering naming it 'Haya March', suggesting - as expected from that bastion of bigotry - that women's place is behind the veil and four walls of the home. Interestingly, for the first time the Jamaat-e-Islami also marked the day by staging rallies in different cities where the keynote speakers, of course, were men. Addressing the event in Islamabad, the party chief Senator Sirajul Haq could say only that at the election time the JI would not allot tickets to those who do not give due share in inheritance to daughters, sisters or widows in their families. Needless to say, it is an important right of which many women are deprived despite clear religious injunctions. No less important, however, are the issues rights advocates highlighted, such as denial of equal opportunities in education and jobs, enforced marriages, 'honour killings', domestic violence, workplace harassment, and moral policing.

As Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court Athar Minallah explained while rejecting petitions seeking restrictions on the Aurat March, Islam "recognised the right of a woman to enter into a marriage contract based on her free will. For the first time women were given the right to inherit property and to own and manage it on their own. They were given the right to engage in business and their education was declared an obligation by the state." Yet religion is frequently invoked to deny these rights religion gave them more than 14 centuries ago. Anti-women attitudes prevalent in this patriarchic society are created by culture, and further exploited by certain elements for their personal/political ends. If they had their way, women would be confined to male servitude forever. While the International Women's Day is an occasion for celebrating socio-economic, cultural and political achievement of women, it is also time for women as well as men of conscience to renew their resolve to fight for equal rights.