Daily Times

The Islamabad administration has registered a police case against the clerics who attacked Aurat March (AM) on March 8 in front of the National Press Club. The action on the part of JUI-F was unprovoked and uncalled for. Unleashing gangs of seminary students on a peaceful gathering, whatever their grievances, just cannot be allowed in civilised societies. More dreadful than the male gangs were the female vigilante brigades, led by Umme Hasan, wife of the deposed Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz. She has long been spewing venom against the Aurat March and had vowed to disrupt it in a video message that was spread on social media. Given the nature of the dangerous groups having known linkages with international terrorists that were active to suppress Pakistani women, we must appreciate the city administration for acting fast and implementing the law.

There are unconfirmed reports of hidden ammunition and presence of lethal arms. Had the female students been allowed to join the Aurat March as normal participants as per their demand when the city administration denied them NOC for a separate gathering, the result could have been far worse.

Kudos to the Awami Workers Party leaders who kept their calm and restrained their participants from throwing back the stones pelted at them. It was a show of courage and uprightness. Now that the police case has been registered, women organisations are supposed to pursue it, shedding aside their differences.

Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Hamza Shafqaat deserves special thanks. It was he who assessed the situation beforehand and moved straight to the stage of the JUI-F gathering and told them to disperse. Little known is the fact that that gathering was unauthorised and the administration cannot afford to be seen as favouring one party over the other. Defying immense pressure, the commissioner has now flashed the FIR that he promised will be registered against the attackers. Any such incident in any provincial metropolis would have been a different story because police is not bound to follow instructions of city administrations. Strict action against the attackers is overdue so that others should learn from this example and refrain from attacking women calling for their rights. *