The Lahore district government has refused the women’s rights organisation Aurat March permission to host a public protest to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8.
The Lahore deputy commissioner (DC) refused the requests, citing threat concerns from security agencies as the reason why the local authorities shouldn’t approve the event.
The Aurat March organising committee strongly denounced the DC in response to the decision and claimed that Jamat-e-Islami’s “Haya March” was to blame for the NOC’s denial.
DC acknowledges the Jamaat’s campaign against the Aurat March, but they emphasised that the March itself was being denied its constitutional rights, not the instigators of the violence.
Not only are we being denied permission to gather at our chosen route (Nasir Bagh), the rejection further goes out of its way to foreclose all previous venues of the March such as Press Club, Alhamra, and Mall Road.
3/n pic.twitter.com/sa6lixPElc
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 3, 2023
In a city where large crowds are allowed to gather for PSL, a peaceful gathering of women and gender minorities is being silenced and denied their constitutional right to assembly. Are cricket matches more important than issues of gender-based violence?
6/n#MarchTuHogi pic.twitter.com/PpL3VnrScP
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 3, 2023
There is no doubt that we will march on March 8th because we will not cede the little space we have carved for ourselves for 6 years. We will march, upholding the rich history of Pakistani women and transgender activists defiantly fighting the systems that seek to oppress us
8/8 pic.twitter.com/HyW9SNM34q— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 3, 2023
In response to the ruling, the organising committee for the Aurat March publicly attacked the DC and asserted that Jamat-e-Islami’s “Haya March” was to blame for the NOC’s denial.
While the DC is aware of the Jamaat’s campaign against it, it was said that “The Aurat March is being denied its constitutional right, not the organisation encouraging violence.
The Lahore district administration’s action was also criticised by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which called it “regrettable.”
The commission mandated that the interim administration in Punjab protect the right of the Aurat March participants to peaceful assembly and complete security.
International Women’s Day is observed on March 8 by women all around the world, who celebrate their accomplishments and have a dialogue about concerns that have not yet been resolved.
This year’s Women’s Day theme is #BreakTheBias, highlighting the notion that simply acknowledging bias does not suffice. In order to achieve equality, action is required.
From 2018, feminists in Pakistan have organised massive public rallies for International Women’s Day called Aurat Marches (Aurat is the Urdu word for woman). When the Aurat March gained popularity and influence, opposition to it grew accordingly.
In a country where women have been shot, stabbed, stoned, set alight and strangled for hurting family “honour”, detractors accuse rights advocates of pushing liberal Western values and violating religious and cultural mores.
The city’s administration have enforced this limitation previously. Last year, the rally’s organisers in Lahore received advice to call it off because to safety concerns. Also, the government has threatened to stop providing protection.
