THE purpose of international women day observed every year on March 08 is to highlight their rights and the need for their empowerment at all levels in addition to projecting and appreciating their contributions to society. However what happened in Pakistan this time around before and on the women’s day is lamentable which negated the whole rationale of marking this important day.
Our religion gives great importance to women rights as well as our constitution recognises equality between men and women. In recent years, women have also been seen taking active part in all walks of life, especially in the field of education girls are surpassing boys, which in fact itself indicates that they are going to play a more leading and powerful role in the days ahead. Being fifty percent of the population, it is important that they come forward and contribute to socio-economic development of the society. There is no denying the fact that womenfolk are still faced with lot of barriers that needs to be removed for their socio-economic empowerment. In a Muslim society, there is no place for objectionable and obscene slogans used by Aurat March. Indeed it is the right of everybody to hold protest and demonstrations to highlight their point of view and demands registered, however whole matter should be dealt keeping in view our social, religious and cultural values.
We are not against women march yet communication strategy adopted by its organisers to raise problems of women was highly inappropriate and frivolous which also drew criticism from different segments of the society. Many women have expressed their disapproval especially to their slogans and placards. Instead of bringing domestic, private and intimate issues out on the streets, the focus of Aurat March should have been on grave issues such as inheritance rights, domestic violence, honour killings, underage marriages, employment and economic protection and legislation around these. In fact once serious issues are resolved, smaller ones will automatically clear up. It is also for government to come up with clear policies and legislation that provide protection to women and remove all sorts of barriers that hinders their well-being. In fact there should be an inclusive and collective approach to find genuine solutions to their problems.
