Aurat March, its origin and contributions

 Aurat March 

Aurat March

There are many controversies and criticisms regarding the word "Awrah" due to its etymology. Aurat is an Urdu language word used for women. It originates from the Arabic language awrat, which means "genitalia," "nudity," or "defectiveness," and March means' walk 'or' demonstration.'

The Origins of Aurat March 

Feminist movements in Pakistan are growing and advancing from time to time, and Aurat March is the most recent remolded image of these feminist movements. Feminism in Pakistan has been transformed from reform-based feminism to secularism and street politics (1980), from NGO-ization (the 1990s and 2000s) to its current phase of feminism, addressing sexuality and body politics issues, symbolized by the slogan, "My Body, My Choice." 

Aurat Marches are yearly socio-political marches that occur, especially in the major cities of Pakistan. The first Aurat March in Pakistan took place on March 8, 2018, at the Frere Hall ground in Karachi on International Women's Day. On this day, women's collectives got the ball rolling alongside the Pakistani #MeToo movement. Later, feminists arranged nationwide Aurat Marches in Pakistan, like in Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, Multan, Quetta, Faisalabad, and Sukkur, to raise awareness against gender discrimination, patriarchal norms, gender-based violence, and women's repression in different societies. 

Violent incidents and atrocities are rampant in Pakistan because of religious and patriarchal values and cultural norms. The country is ranked 153 out of 156 nations in the World Economic Forum's 2021 Gender Parity Index, two spots worse than its position in the previous year. So, raising awareness against women's discrimination is a pressing priority. Women, for centuries, have been fighting hard for their rights, and the Aurat March is also part of their struggle. It takes years of cumulative work, and even the most fundamental rights take decades to accomplish. The feminist movements are engrossed in the Aurat March because it is the platform or the starting point of conversations where women from different backgrounds highlight their issues.  

Contributions of Aurat March

The main contributions of Aurat Marches are as follows:

• The formation of exclusively young leadership
• The abrupt breakdown of the taboo surrounding sexuality became a topic they put on the public agenda. 
• Instead of being politically or project-driven, Aurat March has done so in daring, inventive, and selfless ways.
• This strain of feminism puts women's sexuality and body politics in front by challenging all forms of patriarchy and tyranny. 
• The Aurat Marches in Pakistan have attracted thousands of participants over the years from different groups, including women, men, transgender, and nonbinary communities, as well as religious and ethnic minorities like Hazaras and Balochis.
• The participants of the Aurat March are not just the elite class, but people from different backgrounds and professions, like minority groups, families of enforced disappearances, nurses, school and university girls, acid survivors, sexual abuse survivors, and so on.
• Women's groups belonging to different professions, students, and local NGOs, including Hum Auratein (We the Women), Women's Democratic Front Party, Women's Action Forum, Progressive Student's Collective, and Progressive Students Foundation (PRSF), organize Aurat March.
• Younger women are leading the Aurat March, which indicates a generational transition.
• Some Aurat March organizations are the most reliable and successful from a political standpoint, and these organizations help with legal policies and procedures.
• The Aurat March in Pakistan is the third wave of feminism, with its main concerns regarding body image, sexuality, and opposing systemic and personal patriarchy.
• Aurat March is distinct from past periods' women's movements due to its emphasis on intersectionality and foundations.

Demands of Aurat March

The participants in the Aurat March liaise their demands and messages through art, exhibitions, folk music, posters, banners, and peaceful walks. 
Aurat March has different chapters, and they all have their own manifesto and agenda, mainly focusing on fundamental and equal rights for all. Some Aurat March organizers incorporated political party members into their organizational structure, including males with some decision-making authority.
The demands that Aurat March put forward are:

• Security and peace for all

• Economical, social, and political justice for all 
• End state-based violence against minorities, communities, and individuals and their families,
• Quality education for all ( equal educational opportunities for girls, boys, non-binary and transgender people)
• Basic facilities for all ( health, food, clean water, and residence)
• Equal employment opportunities and equal wages
• Affordable health care services for all
• Safety everywhere (public and private spaces)
• Freedom of speech
• The right to make their own decisions.
• Bodily autonomy
• Right to choose and marry.
• Holistic and structural reforms in existing patriarchal laws
• Implementation of domestic violence laws and the establishment of gender-based violence cells
• Property and inheritance rights
• No to dowry system 
• No to honor killing, Vani or watta satta and implementation of laws against these crimes
• Stop stereotyping gender-based roles
• Stop female infanticide
• Stop sexual harassment and implement laws against harassment
• Stop cyber crimes
• Stop acid attacks and take strict legal actions against culprits
• Establishment of safe mechanisms such as help desks for women, transgender communities, and binary groups in police stations
• Aurat March also demands increased accountability and legal action for violence against women to support women who unfortunately experience domestic violence, mental abuse, and sexual harassment.

Attacks and risks to Aurat March 

Feminism is under constant attacks and risks, and feminists are facing physical, mental, and emotional attacks. Many pietist women's movements have mocked their meek image and initiated an unparalleled frontal battle with their alternative, the Haya Marches (Modesty March). Right-winged clerics and some conservatives have taken great offense to the Aurat March. They demanded to ban it forever and claimed it was a channel to spread obscenity in society through western culture.

In March 2019, the Aurat March participants in the capital city of Pakistan came under attack. This attack was carried out by right-wing male students who belonged to Jamia Hafsa. They chanted slogans against the Aurat March and hurled stones at them.

Many petitions were filled nationwide against Aurat Marches on different occasions. Even some advocates, politicians, and right-wing high-profile figures came forward against Aurat Marches.

Rubina Jatioi, the petitioner, filed a petition in the Sindh High Court, claiming that Aurat Marches do not help women get any rights and that immoral slogans are not allowed in Islamic Republic countries.

In the Lahore High Court, a petitioner filed a petition against Aurat March in March 2020, and the court dismissed the petition and said, "Freedom of speech cannot be stopped."

Petitioners asked the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to declare the 2020 Aurat March to be illegal, but the court rejected their request, stating that every citizen has a fundamental right to assemble according to the law.

The Lal Masjid's Shuhada Foundation also filed a petition against the Aurat March organizers and participants. Abdul Majeed Hazarvi, the chief of JUI-F's Islamabad wing.

Conclusion

Aurat March has been able to strike at ingrained fears, insecurities, critical issues, and important gaps in gender roles, though there was moral panic and a fierce response against it. It brought awareness to systemic faults in society and the violations of fundamental rights of women, transgenders, minorities, and binary groups. 

Aurat March has raised the most urgent issues relating to the body, sexuality, and difficult structural and private issues that were considered taboo a decade ago. 

The Aurat March participators are against the patriarchal system and gender inequalities, and they are distinct from previous generations due to their emphasis on pluralism, intersectionality, equality, youth activism, and bodily autonomy.

However, during the past few years, internal disagreements have surfaced that reveal strategic perplexity and ideological shifts in feminist movements. Additionally, the Aurat March may become stagnant if it is limited to annual events because the Aurat March's edge has already been blunted by subsequent opposition from several fronts. A dedicated vision with strategic goals and roadmaps is needed to win.