Pakistan’s Aurat March 2023: Another Year, Similar Challenges

Six years since the first Aurat March, the idea of women marching, claiming public spaces, and fighting for their rights as they take to the streets in various cities of the countries still faces severe backlash in Pakistan.

This year was no different.

The theme of the 2023 march in Islamabad was “Feminization of Climate Justice,” which aimed to describe climate justice from a feminist lens.

On the day of the march, which was held on International Women’s Day (March 8), participants and organizers were baton-charged by the police. Barbed wire was placed along the road leading to the venue and for hours the march was not allowed to proceed as containers were placed on the route.

Organizers of Aurat March Islamabad applied for a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) on January 6, two months before the march, and met with the district administration twice regarding the matter but received no substantial response.

“On the day of march, two police officers came to us and told us there are security issues. We said we were already clear that we won’t negotiate. We knew that the police were trying to waste our time,” Huda Bhurgri, organizer of Aurat March Islamabad, told The Diplomat.

“We knew that the state was hijacked by the religious fundamentalists who carry their so-called Haya March (Modesty March) and are issued NOC. The entire Faisal Avenue was open for Haya March, but we were cordoned off. For us there were barriers, barbed wire, and we were isolated,” she added.

She added that the police tried to push participants away and warned the organizers that arrests could take place.

“If they were concerned about security, they should have spoken to the Haya March participants who had sticks with them while we had nothing except our placards,” said Bhurgri.