The Aurat Azadi March in Islamabad was attacked by rocks, shoes, bottles and chilli powder on Sunday by JUI and Lal Masjid affiliates. The chief organisers and leaders of the March, who were on stage, were injured and, many other workers and volunteers suffered wounds.
At least one media cameraman was hospitalised. After weeks of facing operational issues in terms of obtaining the NOC, threats, intimidation (a van carrying our newly-printed banners was stopped and driver beaten), vandalism of mural and posters, it was utter confusion and anxiety to see that JUI and religious parties were holding a rally right opposite the Press Club. The Aurat Azadi March had been granted an NOC for the March at the Press Club from 3pm to 6pm. The NOC also included permission for a walk up to D-Chowk. This route for the walk was now partially occupied by JUI. We were told by the security officials that by the time our event would commence, the JUI rally would be cleared and, we could carry on.
However, it was not clear as to how the JUI was placed right next to us, after they had issued threats against us. It was also certain that they had not been given an NOC. We had gathered at a park next to Kohsar Market, very close to the Press Club, that morning and, would group there before proceeding to the Press Club. There, some of us learned that katchi abadi women planning to attend the March were threatened and stopped. Still, as 3pm drew closer, we all moved towards the Press Club. The JUI had still not been cleared. Participants and media had already arrived.
We started sloganeering, holding up placards and gathering momentum even before reaching the Press Club instead, at the barriers, close to the back of Super Market. It was still unclear as to what was going on and, we gathered a crowd and our banners and started towards the green ground of the Press Club. We could see the JUI rally going on in full swing, with no signs of wrapping up.
I heard some sermonising about graves and hell and, all that. I couldn’t see much on the other side but it looked like it was all men. A few woman supporting the “Hayya March” rally were standing a little ways back facing the JUI rally, on one side of the double road.
Unfortunately, appearances give the two rallies away. The men in the JUI rally were all wearing turbans, sporting long beards, and white suits, shalwars hitched up high. The women in support were wearing full black burqas. The participants of Aurat Azadi March represented a more diverse public, from shalwar kameez suits to hijabs to trousers and shirts and so on. I heard from friends “ Look at the coasters.
They have filled them up and brought them here.” And, “They are just cursing us.” Our stage (set up on a truck with speakers) drove close to the Press Club lawn and, the Aurat Azadi March was underway. The crowd this year was huge and, the media were also much bigger in number, jostling for space on the lawn, pushing the public aside trying to get a strategic spot to record the speeches. Everyone was asked to sit on the grass and, space was being made for the media, the same media which sensationalizes events rather providing accurate and neutral coverage. The participation was not only bigger this year but charged, defiant, and excited.
When Ismat Shahjahan appeared to open Aurat Azadi March 2020, we all leaped up in joy. We were all one, in spirit and, emotion. She said that a maidan-e-jang had been created in the capital and that the same outfits who had been used for jihad policy were now angling for space by threatening the feminist movement. She said we were tired of collecting bodies and the state had to declare an Aurat Emergency and to start engaging the movement.
Every word of every speech, every naara was held on by the audience and responded to. Waves and waves of naraas of “Azadi” and “Mera Jism, Meri Marzi” rippled across us. We forgot we were just a few meters from the right wing crowd. The newly made “Hum Inquilab Hain,” a feminist anthem was played and, we all rocked to it and sang it with our hearts. After some exhilarating addresses by Tahira Abdullah, Anam Rathor and Ismat Shahjahan, we started moving towards D-Chowk. Still, at this time, the JUI crowd was right opposite us. The stage/truck was now turning to go back towards Super Market and, take a roundabout turn to D-Chowk. At this point, Ismat Shahjahan, Tooba Syed, Maria Malik, and Huda Bhurgri were on the stage and facing the JUI rally. They were face to face and, the JUI rally was heating up negatively towards us.
They were chanting curses at us. Aurat Azadi March women just smiled and held up victory signs. This footage is widely available on social media. At this point, the JUI crowd lost control and some of them tore through the cloth or plastic barrier in attempt to come at us. The Police charged at them with lathis and stopped the violent mob from overrunning us. By this time, our crowd started running towards our stage/truck which had moved away further up along the double road.
The JUI rally turned into a mob and, started raining stones, bricks and shoes at us. There were still some people on the green lawn who got incensed and, started running towards the mob and, wanted to fight. We stopped them and, told them not to start a riot. By looking at the footage, it appears that a few men on our side of the barrier were helping to break down the cloth partition.
Who were they? What were they doing? I was witness to the rocks and shoes flying at us and, was shocked and, frightened. My 7-year old daughter was in the truck with my comrades. A regular eager and sometimes reluctant participant in WDF events, I had put her in the truck to save her from the long walk to D-Chowk. I ran towards the truck past the crowd, reached her and, took her from the truck to hug her. She was OK. At this point I did not know that Ismat Shahjahan and Huda Bhurgri had been hurt. Later in the evening, I found out and, froze, thinking if a random rock had hit my daughter, it could have been fatal. The News reports that the March ended abruptly. No such thing happened. Our March stopped for a few moments at the double road, close to the gas station facing the back of Super Market. Tooba Syed took over the stage at this point and re-charged us once more: “We will not be intimidated and, will not leave these streets. Open the way!” We all shouted back “Kholo, kholo, raasta khola.” A little while later, the way was open and we continued towards D-Chowk. By this time, some had left the crowd, intimidated by the violence. One woman with children had chilli powder thrown in her face.
Despite this violence, the Aurat Azadi March marched on, one of the biggest turnouts of Islamabad for a feminist movement. On social media, you will see a post by an Aurat Azadi March supporter who had trailed a JUI follower asking him to throw a rock at her. He faces the camera but then runs away. The courage and bravery and resolve of Aurat Azadi March will be shared long after and, we will glow with what we faced and overcame. I saw so many familiar faces in the crowd marching towards D-Chowk. Some friends I had got separated from caught up with me.
The courage and bravery and resolve of Aurat Azadi March will be shared long after and, we will glow with what we faced and overcame
Many other acquaintances came up to me and, I was so happy to see those faces. New friends I’ve made this past year were also marching, their resolve on their faces. We all spoke in passing about the violent mob, the chaos, hurriedly exchanging notes over what we thought had happened.
I was towing my daughter in hand and, trying to keep her cheerful and, engaged. The March stopped at D-Chowk where a huge crowd was still going strong. It was nighttime by now and, we all sat on the ground to enjoy powerful performances: one a play by Laal Hartaal and the Tum Ho Rapist anthem. Up until the night before, the Aurat Azadi March organisers were not sure whether or not to perform the Tum Ho Rapist anthem, given the tense atmosphere.
But now, following the mob attack, they decide to go ahead and performed the full desi version of the anthem . It was a glorious moment to witness this performance, this anthem of anthems which has come all the way from the great women of Latin America to us here in South Asia, here in the capital of Pakistan where we are forming the cusp of a feminist revolution.
We ended the Aurat Azadi March on a high. I came home later that evening and, the line that came to me were: “We faced their stones and shoes and, still we marched.” I felt proud of my comrades who led us that day, that night. And, I knew history had been made by women. Many questions remain unanswered: why were JUI and Lal Masjid affiliates allowed to hold a rally opposite the Aurat Azadi March without an NOC? Why were the two groups placed next to each other after the JUI had openly threatened and incited violence against Aurat Azadi March? The state has registered FIR against more than 10 people and 400 have been booked.
The human rights minister who assured of highest level of support a couple of days before merely issued a mild tweet to condemn the violence, saying that our religion doesn’t preach violence. A man wearing a burqa was one of the men who attacked us. JUI held a press conference a day after the March to say that it was us who incited them.
TV channels have also buzzed a little about the violence but it has not been given the due accurate and neutral coverage. Media is complicit in this ball of confusion. As we continue to process the March and seek the answers, our resolve and commitment is even stronger. The massive turn out in Islamabad and all other cities in Pakistan is self-evident. Despite the complicity of media in muddling the narrative and facts, the right wing propaganda, and social media fake news about naked dancing girls in the March, there is a critical mass thriving in online and physical spaces that is starting to bend to Aurat Azadi March, regardless of class and gender. Even if everyone doesn’t fully agree with the basic right to express yourself in any way you want, even if everyone doesn’t fully comprehend the principles behind the Aurat March’s demand for body autonomy, and, even if everyone has not yet aligned themselves with all the facts and figures and politics, they are in the March. They have stepped over and, are with us.
As I keep thinking over and over about those stones, I recall both fear and a sense of ridicule at the spectacle I was witness to on Sunday. I saw shoes and rocks flying in the air. I was holding a WDF flag and, was frozen for a second, at the pavement. Farzana Bari took the flag from me and ran towards the mullahs and waved it in their faces.
I can still see that flag flying above far higher over those rocks, in my mind. Prime Minister Imran Khan has spoken ad nauseum about the collective Muslim sentiment and, how it can be riled. He doesn’t support violence but understands the sentiment behind violence. This is the kind of rhetoric that has to be ceased by our statesmen and religious leaders. We cannot claim to be peaceful and democratic members of the international community but also issue contradictory statements about the nature of violence and the passions of the Muslim world.
The “religious sentiment” cannot be used to defend violence, the uncontrollable urge to defend the faith. It is being used to justify the JUI attack at the Aurat Azadi March this very moment. It is used to justify violence against any woman who dares to challenge this patriarchy. But how longer will our society justify violence in the name of religion and continue distorting the meaning of religion and violence? Violence is violence, murder of humanity. Yes, we are an Islamic Republic but can’t we be an Islamic society and also be free? This force of submission, this moulding of society and community into one image is not livable or sustainable. At the family level, community, village and clan levels we are forced to swallow ideas and not allowed to think for ourselves. Aurat Azadi March Pakistani Zindabad! Aurat Azad, Samaj Azad!
The writer is an international development worker who runs an IT company