LAHORE: On the occasion of National Women’s Day, a Women’s March was organized in Lahore, demanding protection of the rights of women, religious and gender minorities, and other oppressed groups.
The march started from Lahore Press Club and participants passed through Egerton Road and reached near the Punjab Assembly, where the problems faced by women were highlighted through sketches and songs.
The participants of the Women’s March demanded an end to the cycle of eradicating religious, linguistic, gender minorities and political opponents from ordinary life. They demanded effective implementation of the Punjab Protection of Women Act, strengthening of committees established against sexual harassment at workplaces, ending forced conversions, and reviewing laws related to religious minorities with public consultation.
The participants stressed the need to end discrimination and violence against transgender and gender minorities, and to preserve the right of individuals to determine their gender. They also demanded the elimination of technology like firewalls for censorship on freedom of expression, the formulation of a policy for effective solutions to smog, and the closure of projects that use agricultural land for personal interests.
The number of participants in the Aurat March this year was significantly lower than last year, while arrangements like those made in the past were not made, but there were foolproof security arrangements by the police. A large number of female police officers were deployed for security.
The participants also raised slogans like ‘My body, my will’ and ‘Aurat kya mange azadi’. Women artists highlighted the issues through various songs and sketches.
Before the Aurat March, the organizers of the Women’s Action Forum and Aurat March Lahore held a news conference at the Lahore Press Club and presented their demands. Women’s Action Forum convener Naila Naz, founding member Khawar Mumtaz, and Aurat March representatives Nadia and Fatima, along with other women leaders, presented a charter of demands.
Women leaders demanded an end to the cycle of eradicating women, religious, linguistic and gender minorities, and political dissidents and resistance movements from ordinary life. They said that the real stories of the struggles of those who resisted patriarchy and state oppression should be made a part of educational curricula, museums, and historical documents with complete truth.
They demanded the effective implementation of the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act 2012, allowing inquiry committees formed to address sexual harassment in the workplace to carry out their work without fear and intimidation, and an end to forced religious conversions.
Women leaders demanded an end to discrimination and violence against transgender and transsexual people, strengthening the Transgender Protection Act 2018, and ensuring the right to education for all girls. They also called for ensuring freedom of expression and dissent, an end to enforced disappearances, and the return of all forcibly disappeared persons.
They called for stopping the use of firewalls and governance technologies to censor freedom of expression, withdrawing the amendment to the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act 2012, and ending the cycle of further expanding the scope of repressive laws such as the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.
The women leaders said that clean and safe air should be ensured for all. They called on the state to invest in safe public transport to effectively combat smog. They called for recognizing climate change-induced displacement as a public emergency, and for stopping projects that are creating food shortages by using agricultural land for personal gain.
They demanded an end to austerity measures imposed at the behest of the IMF, the payment of a living wage to all workers, and strict action against employers who refuse to pay workers a living wage.
The participants of the Aurat March presented their demands forcefully and demanded immediate action from the government.
