19/02/2022
For this year, the Aurat Azadi March is commemorating the struggles of the feminist movement and the ‘𝟭𝟭𝟮𝘁𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝘆’ 𝗯𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝘇𝗮𝗱𝗶 𝗝𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗮 𝗼𝗻 𝟴𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝟮 𝗣𝗠 𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮 𝗝𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗵 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗸.
The Aurat Azadi Jalsa is a culmination of our reflections, learnings, struggles and experiences from the past few years. It honours the spirit of feminist resistance, claiming public space while also allowing for gradual evolution and a transformation of our politics. Over the years, we have witnessed the impact of the Aurat Azadi March by the kinds of bonds we have formed, the people mobilised, and the consciousness raised, while simultaneously experiencing violent and oppressive backlash.
We have also been reflecting on the ways our movement can be strengthened, made more accessible and inclusive, and provide a space of resistance, healing and collective action for all women, the khwaja sira community, non-binary people and other minority communities. It is in this spirit that the Aurat Azadi March has decided to organise a jalsa that includes commentary on not only the patriarchal, capitalist and oppressive structures entrenched in our country, but also on its own movement and the politics it aspires to serve.
We confront the frustration of wanting to organise something despite resistance, backlash and the threats to the participants looming large. We want to organise a jalsa that evinces a renewed and reinvigorated way of thinking, while also being mindful of the security threats we have been dealing with these past few years. This year is no different, as many groups threaten to disrupt our activities and assembly on 8th March.
The march is pivotal for the feminist movement, but at the end of the day, it is one annual event. Our political and personal struggles, however, happen year-round. Radical commitment to the feminist struggle warrants that we introspect and reflect; it must carry with it the willingness to accept responsibility for using conflict in a way that is constructive and forward-thinking, as it shapes the parameters of our solidarity.
We also consider refusal as a powerful form of resistance, and this year we aim to harness the power of refusal, a refusal to engage on the terms defined by patriarchal forces. Beyond resistance, our politics is of creation and building a political program and narrative that reflects what we want to see in the world.
Therefore, after a series of conversations, reflections, and mobilisations, we have decided to shift our approach this year to accommodate the ideas and priorities of those collectives we want to strengthen solidarities with. The Aurat Azadi March hopes that through the Jalsa, a dialogue can be initiated amongst the various stakeholders of the feminist movement and that, by coming together, we can build upon our collective power to sustain the Aurat Azadi March movement through multiple engagements throughout the year. Hence, the Aurat Azadi Jalsa hopes to conclude with a collective resolution that will guide the feminist program in the years to come. As voiced by multiple and diverse individuals during our meetings, the idea of a Jalsa deeply resonates and has also been linked closely with resistance movements within Pakistan. Therefore, beyond security concerns, we hope the Aurat Azadi Jalsa is an accessible, familiar and inclusive space for many women who otherwise have never been able to attend the March.
We reaffirm our position that we consider patriarchal oppression, discrimination and violence as part of overall exploitation and oppression of the masses in Pakistan on the basis of gender, class and nation – pillars of capitalism, feudalism, imperialism and religious extremism. We see them as intertwined and interlocking forms of oppression. We are firmly committed to continue the struggle till emancipation of women from all forms of patriarchal oppression and these socio-economic bases; for women’s right to life, peace and progress, dignity and equality for all, establishing people’s democracy and egalitarian society in Pakistan.
In the spirit of feminist resistance and solidarity, we invite all feminist and progressive collectives, organisations, and citizens supporting the cause of gender-equality to the Aurat Azadi Jalsa to bring together and strengthen our struggles for a just and egalitarian society.
COPY
