To mark International Women’s Day, the #AuratMarch (women’s march) took place in major cities across Pakistan including Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Multan and Quetta.
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Both women and men lined the streets to protest for women’s rights in the country with many holding posters and shouting out slogans.
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Since 2018, ‘Aurat March’ - Urdu for Women's March - has been held in many cities across Pakistan to coincide with the International Women's Day on 8 March. But, the movement has faced immense criticism from religious groups. Those against it, believe that the march goes against cultural and religious norms in the conservative country.
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Various politicians have also shared messages for International Women’s Day, said a Dawn News report. Commenting on the movement, Pakistan President Arif Alvi quoted Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah as saying: “Power of women is greater than the pen and sword.”
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In Karachi, hundreds of participants of Aurat March gathered at the Frere Hall, the same location, where people had gathered last year for the event.
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In Lahore, the major part of the march took place at the Aiwan-e-Iqbal monument.
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Women police officers led the security protocol at the march as participants from all walks of life recited poems, chanted slogans and many gathered with creative and quirky posters, demanding equality.
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However, some participants had to bear unfortunate circumstances. According to Geo TV, stones pelted at participants of the Aurat March in Islamabad. A few people who were struck by the stones got injured. It was reported that an estimated 2,000 people had gathered for the rally in Pakistan’s capital.
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The hashtag #WhyIMarch also trended online with women expressing reasons for them to hit the streets. One user @manalkhan07 took to Twitter and wrote: “My house help was told by her husband that if she goes to Aurat March, she will come back home to those three words that she will dread the most for the rest of her life. A man ready to divorce his wife, who has borne him 3 kids, JUST over a march. So, I march for her. #WhyIMarch”
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