By: Sarmad Shahbaz
I was driving to my alma mater on March 04, Friday afternoon when I saw a poster wired with a bamboo stick on a signal pole. This poster was annexed, probably, with all of the erected traffic signal poles on Srinagar Highway in the federal capital. Quite absurd it was at the first look; the poster depicted the fear of Pakistani sigma males (as they call them). The qualms were, however, written in opposition to the controversial Aurat Azadi March. At first instinct, the poster looked like an invitation. But the backdrop appeared when I connected the dots. Aurat March is meant to happen on International Women’s Day, eight of the current month. That poster was an invitation for the same kind of revolutionary protest for women’s rights but under the sheet (Katju n.d.)’s of religious rewording. I am pretty sure that the person who made the poster was following the good-feminist bad-feminist. There was more of a euphemism by the factions of Islamic political groups leading for the so-called “Haya March” (Modest March). The slogan, supposedly to oppose the Mera Jisam, Meri Marzi chant, was written as “Modesty my Jewel, Hijab my Respect” (Haya Mera Zewar, Hijab Mera Waqar).
Mind that I am too liberal for the conservatives and too conservative for the liberals. Perhaps, I want everyone to be cognizant of the reality of feminism. To give you a little background, Feminism has a long history of more than five centuries of practical execution. It goes back to the time of Martin Luther who separated the traditional Church-rule model in Europe and denounced religion of meddling into people’s personal lives. Around those times, initial feminism got kicked off by writers including Christine de Pisan. Later, with the enlightenment, multiple feminists rose for their rights until various waves of feminism erupted throughout the last two centuries. This makes us quite reasonable and knowledgeable that feminism and religion are two separate debates. A woman, before becoming a woman, is a human first.
Back to the topic, no one can read the designer’s mind but what I thought was that in irony, the poster was the opposition of the Aurat March. The parade for women’s modesty, as the poster’s subject signified, is an utterly problematic subject. It is an issue of Pakistan’s patriarchal society that never before, such kind of parades, protests, and public power-shows have been displayed. Inclusion of religion, that too without the consent of the females, has been a habitual act of the Pakistani patriarchal system. All this is done either to subdue the opposite gender or to maintain the status quo.
To be specific, especially by the religious segments, no kind of sympathies have been given to the females on the fractured wall of this country. When Zia took Islamization as the tool of repressing females and unarmed men, there were only a few secular men who marched for the rights of women. Women Action Forum (WAF) of the early eighties shouted for their rights against harsh radical-Islamist behavior against them. They were baton-charged and humiliated. Where were the so-called supporters of “Modest Women March” at that time? It is pivotal to note that along with liberal women, there were females from all kinds of backgrounds in the WAF.
Then, suddenly in the third decade of the 21st century, how come these factions have started flexing their muscles for women’s rights. It is again, a pity irony that the political parties are using women against a woman with the veil of religion. Islam, the most pious religion, has considered women equal or above men.
Multiple Quranic verses witnesses the superior role of women in spreading the religion. However, Islam has hated those who have used the ploy of religion for social anarchy. My main point is not to oppose Haya Marches. It might be possible that their intentions are for the better good. But, the timings and place of this march directly contradict that of Aurat March. On the one side, women are protesting for equal rights for both genders. On the other side, there is going to be a group of women (not men because they cannot directly confront the ladies of Aurat March).
If you want to support the women for their rights, try a new thing – Embrace the women for who they are and what they preach for. Having two contradictory marches with the same aim but opposite and extremist viewpoints will not only create an atmosphere of animosity but can also rupture the social fabric through clashes of a woman with woman. These tactics have been prevailing in the society of Pakistan for a long time. Hostility through a proxy, whether in social, cultural, or political spaces, has always disturbed the equilibrium of the overall system.
Today, when the world is progressing towards an inclusive society, the religious fanatics are reversing this progress, not through violence but strategic schemes. Socio-cultural dynamics are evolving and there are chances for third world countries to become the top horse in the race. Nevertheless, these dynamics, when considered gender, become so fragile in the ruthless world run by men. This is high time for Pakistani society to think outside of the box. Learn, not only from the relevant history i.e., Islamic and Pakistani but from the history of those who have progressed and now rule the world. Breaking the shackles of ignorance is what these people need to make a gender-equal country that defies insecurity and timidity.
The writer is Pakistan-based Socio-Political Analyst with keen interests in Politics and Philosophy. He can be reached out at [email protected]