When daring, strong women are gathered in one room, you know that something indredible is going to take place....
women
When daring, strong women are gathered in one room, you know that something indredible is going to take place. We know that International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8th every year, but many of us may not be familiar of our National Women’s Day. Pakistan celebrates its annual National Women’s Day on February 12, which marks the first and most defiant moment in the history of the nation’s women’s movement. On this day, in 1983, scores of enraged women defied General Zia ul Haq’s military ban on public gatherings and congregated at the Lahore High Court to raise their voice against his ‘Law of Evidence’. It equated the evidence of two women to one man in legal matters.
Women’s rights issues were catapulted onto the national scene and the march was the first public demonstration by any group against a martial law. The protest also marked the first time in the history of Pakistan that police used tear gas and batons on women, injuring many and arresting nearly 50. Pictures of the courageous women being baton-charged by the police were plastered in many cities.
To commemorate this show of strength, recently Focus PK held a panel discussion where renowned women from different fields came to share their inspirational stories. It was held at Sindh Governor House, Karachi, with celebrities and prominent media personalities in attendance.
Hosted by Atiqa Odho, the panellists included renowned playwright Haseena Moin; acclaimed director-producer Sahira Kazmi; director and CEO Dream Team Films Amena Khan; Chairperson and CEO Unilever Pakistan Shazia Syed; designer Shamaeel Ansari; Oscar award-winning documentary filmmaker and CEO SOC Films, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy; CEO Bond Advertising, Seema Jaffer; makeup maestro Nabila Maqsood and CEO Airwaves Media Seema Taher Khan. The women shared their stories with utmost honesty, which was an illuminating insight to their struggles.
Sahira Kazmi spoke about her struggles and how hard it had been to enter the media industry for an educated woman; given the preconceived notion about it. However, during her time she learnt a lot and worked hard to produce quality content for television. “I was often questioned for my content but thank God the people liked it and it stayed on TV. I am really proud that I was able to contribute some for the country.”
Sahira is the woman who brought quality content on-screen unapologetically and put forward ideas that were considered ‘bold’ at the same time. Women empowerment is a popular theme among her dramas and it actually educated its audience a lot. She gave us gems like ‘Hawa Ke Naam’, Hawa Ki Beti’, ‘Zaibunnisa’ among others. “Since our masses are not educated I wanted to reach them with storyline and emotions and I managed to do that. TV was watched by a lot of uneducated people as well so a lot of my work was particularly on social issues and women empowerment,” she enthused.
Most of these women had to start from scratch and build everything from there. Nabila’s story resonated with that. “I was extremely naughty and rebellious and was often punished and misunderstood for being the person that I was. In hindsight, I was creative. Now being a parent myself, I would have viewed that child very differently, celebrated her wildness, creativity and would not have tried to conform her. I was married early and had two children by 21,” she told.
Even though she was married to a rich industrialist, her drive to live a meaningful life didn’t deter. “They thought it was a phase and it would pass away but it didn’t. I sold my wedding diamonds to learn how to cut hair. I started from an 8x8 maid’s room with one chair in 1986 and then I went on from there. Invest in yourself, not in jewellery.” Nabila is now internationally-acclaimed stylist, all due to her untiring efforts and her drive to succeed.
Another panellist was Seema Jaffer, who in the face of many hardships defied barriers with her choices. From losing a mother at a young age, to finding her way in terms of career to motherhood, Seema faced it all with courage and determination. She talked about her struggle of becoming a mother as she couldn’t conceive and her choice of choosing her two daughters through adoption. At the end, she gave very pertinent advice to the audience, “We all have our part to choice the kind of person we want to be. Don’t listen to the voices of outside; don’t let them write your story. Make your choices and become author and agent of your life. This is who I am and this is who I exactly wanted to be.”
