Pakistan Ranks As The 4th Worst Country To Be A Woman in 2021 & You Ask Me Why We March?
I’ve had people inboxing me on the way Aurat March is presented. On how the slogans represent an elite few or use language which is too provocative or downright inflammatory. I’ve had women say they wholeheartedly believe in Women’s Rights but not the Aurat March.
Throwback To History
Well my dears, here’s the thing. Change has always happened on the streets first & then in courtrooms. It has always been (historically) fired up by a fiery few & then, when that led to conversations, a shove led to a nudge, led to an idea, led to a murmur, and thus blew the first winds of change. The suffragette movement started decades ago, finally urged lawmakers to grant women the right to vote in 1920. Yes. It’s not that long ago folks. A 100 years ago, women were not deemed worthy to cast a vote in most countries we call developed & woke today. Your grandmothers couldn’t vote.
The movement suffered from division too, as well as a militant wing, more aggressive than the rest.
Point is, for change to be effective, we don’t all have to agree on every part of the agenda or every slogan or every manner of saying it. But, we must all be united that change must come. The manner in which we express ourselves might differ but the way forward is the same. Stricter laws, execution of those laws, a shift in mindsets, a change in the futures of our young boys and girls. For that, we need to be on the same page. Men & women…and all women, to begin with.
When women are killed for defaming a family’s honor, married off at a young age (often to much older men), when they suffer abuse in a marriage or as a sister or daughter, when they cannot save their daughters from abuse, they are bound to react in ways that are … extreme? For every woman who marches, there is a story. I can tell you that every woman I know, privileged or not, has a story. And that is why she marches. Give her the freedom to express herself in her own way. And you can do it your way.
But March we will. Till Pakistan becomes the 4th Best Country For Women To Be In…Not The Worst … One day!
