First women conference kicks off in Karachi.

Byline: Shazia Hasan

KARACHI -- 'I will march for the girl who earns and what she earns is taken from her by the male members of her family,' said retired Justice Nasira Iqbal during her keynote address at the opening ceremony of the two-day 'Women Conference' at the Arts Council of Pakistan (ACP) here on Friday.

'But just marching or the Aurat March would not be enough. There is the need for action, too, and for demanding your rights. In our country, 89 per cent women are victims of domestic violence and think that it is quite normal because of which they don't even complain or seek justice,' she said.

'Females are not even counted in our population census because the men are unwilling to even mention them on paper. When asked how many children they have they may say two. Then only when pondered further some mention that they also have six daughters,' she said.

'According to the United Nations, around 100 million females in Asia are missing as some were aborted as foetuses while others fall prey to infant mortality. The lack of medicines or nourishment may take their lives later, too. Fifty million of this missing 100 million are said to be in China, 40 million in India and five million in Pakistan. If this carries on, there won't be enough females to carry forward your population,' she pointed out.

'Time is on the side of women now'

The other keynote address was delivered by human rights advocate I.A. Rehman. 'The British flag was not taken down and replaced with the Muslim League flag in Lahore in 1947 by a boy,' he reminded of the time when a 14-year-old girl Fatima Sughra achieved the great feat.

'But Pakistan has not treated its women well. For starters, the Constitution of Pakistan has not included Article 16 from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights whereby 'men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution'. It also does not say anything about equal wages,' he said.

'The Aurat March is not Pakistan's problem although it is being made into one. It will go on as time is on the side of the women now,' he said.

Earlier, in his welcome note, ACP's president Ahmed Shah said when anyone asked him about the need for holding a women's conference, he said that a world where the men controlled almost...