Aurat March 2022 kicked off in Lahore on March 8 with a lively gathering and customary onlookers. This year’s event had to overcome administrative obstacles, as the additional deputy commissioner had issued directions in this regard. The Civil Lines police superintendent, for instance, had been directed “to convene a meeting with the representatives of organisers for not holding Aurat March in the light of security threats… In case the organisers decide to proceed with the march, they should be told that they are fully responsible for the safety of the participants.”

These directives were issued apparently in an attempt to squash the gathering by promoting a perception of threat despite the administration having had ample notice of the event. However, following a writ petition in Lahore High Court (LHC), security was provided to marchers along the entire route.

Aurat March now takes place every year in the city with the number of participants growing. The theme for this year’s march was Asal Insaaf (true justice). The organisers sought to provide the law-making bodies with a lens to take a compassionate view of the sufferings of women and transgender persons.

The marchers gathered at the Lahore Press Club (LPC) where they were searched and scanned by the security officials. They passed through metal detectors and walked by a line of armed officers guarding the main road. Afiya Hassan, a female police officer, said on the occasion: “We’ve been given very specific instructions regarding the protection of the marchers. We have mobilised a large number of female officers so they can easily attend to any issues with the procession.”

The main procession started marching from the LPC along the Egerton Road and came to a halt in front of the PIA office. The marchers carried banners, pickets and posters, and chanted pro-freedom and anti-torture slogans.

A majority of the marchers were women. Small groups of transgender persons and a handful of male allies were also present. Alizey Rehman, a marketing professional who was marching with her husband, said, “This is my second time [at the Aurat March]. I am invested in the manifesto on a personal level. A close family member of mine is routinely subjected to domestic abuse for ‘failing’ to give her in-laws a male child. My husband accompanies me and we march for the future of our children.”

In front of the PIA office, the crowd created a sea of colour and sound, with many marchers sporting loud make-up, face paint, and brightly coloured clothes. About the atmosphere, Umm-i-Mina, a postgraduate student, said: “Although being filmed and shouted at by random men while marching wasn’t fun, I felt a strange sense of safety being one with the crowd. Strength in numbers is a very real phenomenon. It is amazing to see so many people expressing themselves.”

The marchers had been advised to avoid   engaging with media personnel who didn’t have press passes. In order to circumvent the permit system, certain media outlets sent in their female reporters to blend in with the crowd. A female reporter was found   provoking the marchers by grabbing them and shoving her mic in their faces. When they wouldn’t engage, she asked them questions such as “Aap behayayi ko support karti hain?”

The marchers had been advised to avoid engaging with media personnel who didn’t have press passes. In order to circumvent the permit system, certain media outlets sent in their female reporters to blend in with the crowd. A female reporter was found provoking the marchers by grabbing them and shoving her mic in their faces. When they wouldn’t engage, she asked them questions such as “Aap behayayi ko support karti hain?”

The chanting was started by a female emcee who announced, “Mubarak ho, beti hui hai!”

This was followed by slogans of azaadi (freedom) under the shadow of garlands made with shirts that had been hung above. These shirts had abuse victims’ ages, their relationships with their assailants and the circumstances under which they were assaulted, painted on them. Featuring words like Ghar, Chachu, Bhai ka dost, and numbers 7, 10, and 12 to denote the ages of the victims, the shirts painted a harrowing picture.

An installation, titled Journalism Must Be Ethical, had been erected outside the main area. It featured life-sized cutouts of media persons who had created a harmful buzz around Aurat March and women’s rights movement, allegedly for the sake of ratings and cheap popularity. These included representations of Orya Maqbool Jan, Abdullah Khan and Farrukh Zaman Warraich.

The Aurat March organisers had issued special press passes that would allow easy access to marchers and “avoid provocation and harassment from journalists looking to create controversy”.

The marchers had been advised to avoid engaging with media personnel who didn’t carry these passes. In order to circumvent the permit system, certain media outlets had sent in their female reporters to blend in with the crowd. A female reporter was seen harassing and provoking the marchers by grabbing them and shoving her mic in their faces. When they wouldn’t engage, she asked them questions like “Aap behayayi ko support karti hain?” A volunteer eventually asked one of the female police officers to remove her from the march, upon which she started whining on camera, saying, “Dekhein nazreen, meray saath kya ho raha hai!”

Rukhsar Farooq, a customer service manager, was being hounded by some reporters without press passes for a comment and told, “Auratein aisay kapray pehnain gi to aadmi nahin dekhein gay?”

Later, Farooq told TNS, “I’ve been in public spaces wearing jeans, shalwar kamees, and abaya, during the height of Covid-19. Whenever I am waiting for an Uber, or standing on the road, the leering has been non-stop, irrespective of what I am wearing.”

Misha, who omitted her last name for the sake of privacy, said, “After Aurat March, videos of marchers start circulating and statements are taken out of context, painting everything in a negative light. My family members frequently watch the videos shared on WhatsApp. They think that women rejoicing and expressing themselves in public spaces is akin to immorality. We are so accustomed to seeing women recoiling in public spaces and appearing smaller, it becomes a spectacle when they rejoice through movement and song.”

The authorities should surely figure out a way to accommodate an event that happens every year without the organisers having to go to the court. Surely the media outlets should learn how to report on such events.

Furthermore, the public should at least be able to see a large group of predominantly female marchers and without jeering at them. The list goes on.

The writer is a staff member