Daily Times

Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr. Shireen Mazari has said that she felt remarkable by celebrating International Women’s Day with remarkable women from so many fields.

Dr. Shireen Mazari in a tweet wrote that she celebrated International Women’s Day at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) with a PAF fighter pilots from S. Punjab and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, a young athlete from Lower Dir, a young social activist from Balochistan, a blind doctor turned artist and a young lawyer from Sindh working with prisoners.

Earlier, Mazari strongly denounced the attempts to stop the planned Aurat March set to take place on International Women’s Day on March 8. In a tweet, Mazari condemned the political leaders who were asking people to “forcibly stop Aurat March”.

“Women, like other segments of society, have a right to peacefully protest and demand their rights already enshrined in our Constitution,” the minister said.

“Our government is committed to ensuring an end to discrimination against and harassment of women and has put in place programmes, policies and legislative measures to empower women and girls,” she added.

Political parties are also polarised on the issue, with the PPP seeking security for the participants of the March and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leader of religiopolitical JUI-F asking his followers to stop the march from taking place. In a recent rally, Fazl, without naming the Aurat March, said that “whenever you see these types of elements, you should alert security forces about them and if they [security forces] provide protection to these people, your sacrifices are going to be required to stop them by force”.