February 12 marks Pakistan’s National Women’s Day; Aurat March in Lahore was held on the same day this year to commemorate the feminist struggle in Pakistan. The News on Sunday spoke with Neelam Hussain, Women’s Action Forum member and executive coordinator of Simorgh Women’s Resource and Publication Centre, who recounted the movement’s history and the significant inroads that feminist activism has made in the country. Hussain discussed how there is a need to create space for the new generation and support causes that concern women today while making an effort to mitigate the impact of deep-rooted patriarchal notions and dictatorial laws. Excerpts follow:

he News on Sunday: Pakistan has an extensive history of feminist struggle. The WAF raised women’s issues when the country was struggling with its identity under a dictatorship. How has the women’s movement changed over the years?

Neelam Hussain: Women have been working. There have been people’s movements in South Asia, in fact, globally, and we have made significant inroads. The WAF put women’s issues on the public and official agendas to the point where even Jamaat-i-Islami [seen as patriarchal and conservative] established a women’s wing. When we started, people would say, “In Pakistan, women are ghar ki rani. The issues you’re raising are the problems of the West.”

Over the years, we have moved away from that and have managed to mitigate the impact of some of Zia’s laws, getting them repealed or removed.

A space has been created, and a new generation has come in. The younger generation is leading the Aurat Marches, which is how it should be. They are picking up issues that we were aware of, but when the WAF started, it wasn’t time to address those. Back then, we were concentrating on Zia’s laws, GBV and making people recognise those as crimes against women.

For instance, mera jism, meri marzi is new and essential. Not that we didn’t know of it, but it has come out now because the situation has evolved, and the language has evolved. Now, they are much more upfront; generationally, we were more reticent because, during Zia’s time, we had to be mindful of certain nuances.

Since our focus was on the laws, these issues weren’t raised by the WAF then. We were writing about them in academic papers, but as a generation, we weren’t raising issues of women’s sexual agency or pleasure.

Even now, our language is modulated. Academically, I can write very openly, but we are not used to discussing such concerns in conversations.

This is a moment of transition into a new phase that addresses today’s issues. It is a time of great, critical self-reflection. Are we creating spaces for the newer generation? Because once you organically become the main voice of the women’s movement, its biggest digression is that you become complacent and the critical edge starts to lag. The older and younger members must maintain that edge.

As far as the movement is concerned, it is not fixed or static; it changes with time and is reformulated—it responds to the times, is shaped by the times and also shapes the times.

TNS: Holding the Aurat March on National Women’s Day sends a message to the public that women’s struggle should be treated as a serious national concern. How can we ensure that these concerns are not just highlighted on one day and that a sustained effort is made to address them all year round, as they impact the daily lives of women in Pakistan?

NH: There is certainly a need for sustained effort, but there are so many voices now. You (the media) are raising these issues, we are doing it, and the working-class women are doing it. They may not have a platform, but they are certainly voicing concerns. When women who work as domestic help complain that they are not getting paid enough or the women in trade unions raise the issue of discrimination, they are taking a stance. All these need to be treated and recognised as [authentic] voices.

TNS: Is the socio-economic divide and a deep-rooted class system why we are not paying enough attention to these voices?

NH: Yes, but it also has to do with how the media picks up the voices. An upper-class, English-speaking woman from the WAF, Aurat March or any other group is more likely to get media coverage. When the women in trade unions march, when your mazdoor and kissan march, they are not given similar space.

One of the issues we have been discussing is how many women of the working class are with us. Not many. When the WAF was established, Rubina Jamil and others of the Trade Union joined us, but then they parted ways, citing male trade unionists and their family members being ‘uncomfortable’ because they were meeting women like us, the so-called, stereotyped Westernised women. So, they asked, “What should we do? Do we establish an organisation of our own?” We supported them, and the Working Women’s Association was made. Lala Rukh, in fact, designed the logo.

TNS: Any movement that aims to drive change faces challenges. The women’s effort has faced several. Knowing the extent of the issue and the many challenges along the way, how do people remain associated with this struggle?

NH: We have to remember that these movements are not funded. The members are very eclectic, and that is the strength of the movement—there is a diversity of views and opinions. Also, one must consider how much time they can dedicate. Many of us have children and jobs; and many of us have husbands, fathers and brothers who do not approve. So, working constantly towards a movement like this can be challenging because it is not paid work.

Different generational groups need to sit together and figure out how to keep going, establishing and maintaining contact, given that there is no monetary benefit for them in this; we are paying out of pocket.

The interviewer is a staff member