Aurat March.

Despite multiple challenges that organisers had to overcome-including permission issues, unnecessary criticism and opposing marches-the Aurat March persisted. Thousands of participants flooded the streets in support of the charter of demands set forth by the committee, but their efforts were marred by political and social unrest. Both Lahore and Islamabad became scenes of immense controversy after the imposition of Section 144 and a baton-charge by the police. Meanwhile, the state continued to play a passive role that protects it from picking a side and unfortunately so. The whole focus of the march has primarily been diverted from integral issues to settling down controversy and panic.

The caretaker government of Punjab imposed Section 144 after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced their election campaign rally. The justification given was that traffic in the provincial capital has been disturbed for far too long, and having the Aurat March and PTI rally at the same time is bound to bring the city to a standstill. Authorities further stated that there is a very real security concern as well. In all of this, the essence of the march was lost entirely. Rather than debating about pertinent issues like domestic violence, equal...