MARD MARCH FOLLOWING AURAT MARCH

 MARD AND AURAT MARCH

Men & Women Marching Together, sounds oxymoronic? It so is.

Aurat march, that was held on International women’s day was not strictly women centered March, it couldn’t be because the offence and offender were not mutually exclusive for women largely but specifically for ones present in the march and if the promotional posters are to go by Mard march organizers seem to be in agreement. Why else the outrageous response if you didn’t feel personally attacked? While most women regularly raise issues concerning men (and there are issues that require attention and actions) along with highlighting injustices against women, few misguided men chose to make the Aurat March about men/women divide.

Disappointing is the fact that they, disgruntled and defensive men, decided to carry out a march in “reaction” to slogans and various watchwords written on placards during Aurat march to not only ridicule women but to undermine the struggle that encompasses many marginalized sections of society.

All these influential people, actors particularly cocooned in a linear profit oriented minds, have the audacity to criticize Aurat march after normalizing immoral and toxic behavior over the years. These lawmakers and legislators, who should have been liable to women for failing to prevent daily horrors of systematic gender subordination, abuse and oppression, are registering complaints, issuing condemnations and seeking FIR! Why?  Even if you cut down on opportunism and celebrity feminism, we (women) have more reasons to protest than you can ever count.

From the “hit back” that few men are planning for 24^th march, it’s pretty obvious that they comprehensively failed to grasp even a singular reason of women marching all over the country, so here is a quick recap to give some direction for the “Mard March”.

Women were protesting against a society where 30% out of 48.76% total female population of the country have suffered one or another form of abuse at the hands of 51.24% male population. A society where 21% out 48% (total female population) are married off before the age of sixteen and a bill seeking to raise the minimum age to “18” for female had to be withdrawn following the pressure from Council of Islamic Ideology that scorned the bill away by calling it blasphemous. A society where 30,000 women die every year due to complicated pregnancy (and guess who tops the maternal mortality stats? Young, 1^st time mothers! ). A society that sees estimated 1000 honor killing every year and not bat an eye. A society where 82% women suffer abuse at workplace out of which 10% suffer sexual violence. A society where 2000 women die due to dowry conflicts every year because 95% marriages in Pakistan involve monetary transfer from a bride’s family to groom’s family in the form of dowry (And I being a women, am admitting that women are much to be blamed as men in dowry greed). A society where 15-2,000 trans people are killed by sexual assault, rape, and torture every year. A society where 460-500 acid attacks perpetrated more often than not by male relatives of the victim are reported every year. A society where one child a day is reported as kidnapped for sexual gratification, gang rape or mutilation. A society that saw increase of 32% in child sexual abuse making it 2,322 cases a year. A society where 200+ women are gang raped, 2840 women raped and 684 women murdered every year. A society where 40% of ever married women have suffered domestic violence. A society where 79,935 pregnancies are terminated if it’s a girl child every year.

Let that sink in …

These are only reported stats because most victims don’t even get past cultural familial pressure, let alone repulsive thana-culture and counterproductive justice system.

For any conscientious society these statics would suffice to shake the whole structure but we Pakistani will make a mockery out of collective predicament of half the population of the country and carry out “Mard March” sneering and jeering “what about my rights”. How is it your right to protest against women defying abusive traditions implying that they should suffer in silence? Instead, let us all march together against the fact that we don’t have a single designated functional trauma center in a country that is among the top countries severely affected by violence of more personal nature than terrorism.

Let us all march together against every social evil, which in most cases is perpetuated by MEN! I do ask these men gearing up for Mard March who will they be raising placards against? When made to sit down and talk about monstrous crimes like huge child molestation case of 2015 from Hussain Khanwala (A village in Kasur, Punjab) where about 300 children, aging between 10-14, were sexually abused and videotaped by gang of 20-25 MEN, later to be sold on porn sites and local markets for as low as pkr 50 to be purchased and watched by MEN. Who will you lot march against? YOU ?.