And the
Pakistani society is going mad with grief and anger at the audaciousness of
women taking to the streets asking for their rights. Before we go with the flow
of condemning those street marchers, let us take a pause … just a brief pause …
and reflect …
Why are all these women, from jean clads to Abaya clads, taking to the streets? Are they simply looking for some attention, excitement or thrill? Or they are bored of domestic chores and looking around for some new roles?
Women’s Day has been internationally celebrated since 1909, whence some women took to the streets in New York, America. It is no surprise, because societies and cultures along the times have more often than not suppressed the weak … whenever, wherever and however they could. Be it women, children, slaves … whoever they could get their hands on. However, their all time favorite has been, women.
The episode that triggered the Aurat March in Pakistan in 2018 was when a macho husband in Lahore killed his wife for serving him an inadequately heated dinner platter. How is that?
The defenders might say, that the dinner was just a trigger. The husband was actually pent up with anger over other issues, and the dinner just became a volcanic eruption. Still, is it justified? Issues are dealt with discussion or separation or divorce. Not murder.
The seed of aggressive machoism is sown right in the childhood in the Eastern societies. And its not just about aggression. Its also about giving boys the all-time permit to be lazy, dependent and not take any responsibility till they start a job. And once they start a job … whoa ! Its as if the king has gone to the fields. Everyone is in a flurry to pamper, sympathize and qualify the man as the greatest of hard workers ever.
I thought, it was the man who was the stronger of the two, taking more responsibility, uplifting the other, and that is why he is the Qawam in the Quran. The Pakistani Muslims, however, believe otherwise. They want us to coo and goo and woo him like a baby and allow him to throw a tantrum like a spoilt brat. We women, are happy with the babies Allah Almighty has given us. We want a man, a Qawam, not a baby and his mother, justifying his tantrums. Hence, the Aurat March.
