Islamabad: Noor Mukadam’s death has upset Pakistan for a few weeks now. People in Pakistan were outraged by the brutal torture and beheading of the 27-year-old woman. Pakistan was forced to confront its reality that includes honor killings and gender-based violence – ghosts that haunt the country to this day.
In the weeks that followed Mukadam’s killing, Pakistan’s fury was reignited by another questionable decision. ‘Aurat March’ has been canceled in Faisalabad, causing a huge uproar this time. Aurat March is a feminist and social demonstration that takes place annually in Pakistan.
The march was held for the first time on March 8, 2018, in Karachi – parallel to the #MeToo movement. It soon spread to Lahore, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Karachi, Islamabad and Peshawar. It calls on the people of Pakistan for accountability, activism, and acknowledgment. Women’s rights are upheld and values that often lead to violence and harassment are challenged. It has been announced that the march in the city of Faisalabad will not go ahead because the city administration has refused to give a no-objection certificate (NOC).
Specifically, the Aurat March was held to peacefully protest against ‘ongoing femicide’ and to protest ‘brutal murders of women throughout the country based on ‘isolated incidents’ for the purpose of bringing about collective social change’. The march also demanded an end to honor killings and the creation of gender-based violence reporting cells led by women or transgender women, as well as a toll-free hotline for reporting domestic violence and sexual assault.
Prior to the pro-women event, the organizers applied for a NOC from the district administration. The march has been canceled. The official Twitter account of Aurat March Faisalabad announced that the march was postponed because of security concerns. A new update will be announced shortly (sic). According to the Facebook page, ‘It’s utterly sad to see how the system responded to a peaceful and democratic March organized by students in the city by denying them any sort of space and protection, rather, harassing and threatening the march organizers’.
Events in a series
Ammar Ali Jan, a human rights activist, criticized the decision and said the assistant commissioner had threatened the organizers with arrest. Moeez Abid, one of the organizers, revealed the series of events on Twitter. In his view, the Aurat March team had informed all authorities in advance about the event.
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Nevertheless, sectarian organizations held a press conference explaining how the Aurat March threatens the rights of women in Pakistan. Moeez further wrote, ‘Assistant Commissioner in the prolonged discussion of 2 hours kept on debating on how Noor (Mukadam) should be criticized too, How women rights are already fulfilled and gave reason to us for not satisfying the legitimate NOC requirement, Keep on giving made-up excuses on Muharram when it’s not even started so now we have chosen to begin a protest against AC Commissioner since they are just one call away from an extremist mullah to take away our rights so Kindly retweet and Please spread the Hashtag #ShameOnACFsd so we can have this march as soon as possible (sic)’.
The march has been canceled in Pakistan, a country that has retorted with values and morals when questioned about honor killings and murders of women. It is ironic that Pakistan does not even have an answer for the brutal murders of Noor Mukadam, Naseem Bibi, Saima Ali and Qandeel Baloch. Despite a regressive step, Pakistan continues to shut out women who wish to discuss equality, sexuality or nonviolence.
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