AWP calls for gender equality at Islamabad Jalsa on Women’s Day

Islamabad, 8^th March 2015: On the call of the Awami Workers Party (AWP), hundreds of working-class women, political workers, students and ordinary citizens gathered on Sunday on the occasion of International Women’s Day at the Aabpara Community Centre in a high-charged show of political power unmatched by any mainstream party in the country on the day. Dismissing the instrumental use of women by major political parties for votes, the AWP conference declared that only the replacement of capitalism and patriarchy could guarantee equality and rights for women, as well as an end to class, imperialist, national and all other forms of oppression. Held as a country-wide day of action in which AWP units organized activities in more than twenty cities, the AWP conference in Islamabad hosted by prominent student and feminist leader Alia Amirali featured colour, song, dance as well as inspirational speeches by the AWP leadership.

The event featured participation from various regions of the country and different spheres of society, including kachi abadi residents, women activists from Alipur Farash, domestic workers, pioneering female carpenters from Hunza, the women ex-councillor’s network, activists from the Kashmir People’s National Party and students from Quaid-e-Azam University and other varsities around the twin cities.

Speaking on the occasion, AWP chairman Fanoos Gujjar said that Pakistani society is amongst the most patriarchal in the world, and while this social order has deep historical roots it has been strengthened immeasurably over the past few decades by the state of Pakistan, the legal, policing and other branches of which actually victimize rather than protect women. Fanoos Gujjar said that the AWP harbours no delusion about this state-sponsored patriarchal order and is committed to replacing it entirely with a social order that ensures the inclusion and equality of women at all levels of society.

Speaking on the occasion AWP Punjab president Aasim Sajjad said that the left, and particularly the AWP, is the only political force in Pakistan that does not view women as only a source of votes or mobilization during rallies, but actually believes in women’s liberation. He said that the AWP believes firmly that women’s emancipation is tied to the liberation of the working classes and oppressed nations such as the Baloch. He said that the long struggle for socialism requires all of these constituencies to come together and the AWP will work with all other progressive forces to bring them together to fight the forces of reaction.

AWP vice-president Farzana Bari said that women are a crucial plank of the struggle against religious bigotry and intolerance, and they are after all the biggest victims of violence. She also rejected the idea that terrorism can be eliminated through military means, because the state’s military options destroy thousands of homes and it is women who inevitably face the brunt of this displacement and destruction.

Other speakers at the Jalsa included Rubina Tehseen (Women Councillors Network), Naila Khaneen (UKPNP), Afsheen Baloch from QAU, and Rabia bibi from Alipur Farash AWP unit among others.

The conference had a substantial cultural program featuring singing by Ammar Rashid Information Secretary RWP-ISB, a classical dance performance by Amna Mawaz, Youth Secretary RWP-ISB, a bharatnatyam performance by Indu Mitha’s dance troupe themed on gender, and a play on different forms of women’s oppression prepared by the activists of the National Students Federation.

Farooq Tariq
General Secretary
Awami Workers Party

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Sunday March 8: AWP is organizing countrywide rallies and events this Women’s Day against patriarchy and for gender equality

Tomorrow’s events are being organized in Islamabad, Lahore, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Kohat, Mianwali, Multan, Sanghar, Kasur, Gujranwala and Naushero Feroz. Karachi, Okara, Sanghar, Sheikhipura, Wanki, Nasirabad and other district parties will be organizing rallies next weekend.

These rallies are part of ongoing efforts of many in the AWP (including in its leadership and cadres) to put the question of feminism at the center of the agenda of the Pakistani Left (which it historically has not been) and hopefully at some point, into the political mainstream as well. This is being attempted in different parts of the country by organizing socialist feminist circles and working women’s groups, with the purpose of going beyond the instrumental use of women that is common in Pakistani politics, to actually mobilizing working class women politically and ideologically in the fight against patriarchy. You can find examples of some of these efforts on our pages. Many of these groups, including domestic workers, students, carpenters, nurses, lady health workers, doctors, and women councilors are joining us for these rallies.

Attempting to articulate a socialist feminist politics in contemporary Pakistan is not a particularly easy task, given the embedded gender hierarchies that prevail in every sphere of this society (even, sadly, within sections of the Left). It is even more challenging when that feminism is linked to a politics that is suspiciously seen as ‘anti-state’ in the mainstream. Given the critical and urgent nature of the task, we believe it is not something that can be left to the future (until the left can access power again) but a struggle that can be waged in the social and cultural realm now. But for this, we need support from progressives like yourselves who have a voice, can reach large numbers of people and are apprised of the importance of this task.

In addition to preparation for the rallies, our social media team has also been running a campaign to popularize feminist discourse in the Pakistani context. This campaign can be seen on the party’s facebook and twitter pages, as well as through the #AuratJagi hashtag on both mediums.

For those of you on social media, please assist us in amplifying our voice on this issue. You can either repost the material directly from the party pages or tweet using the hashtags #AuratJagi and #AWPWomensDay (I’ve attached a list of tweets we’ve collated together for the purpose, but feel free to add your own about Why you feel the question of gender is important in Pakistan today).

We invite all journalists to cover our events (wherever they can) as a rare and emergent feminist politics that is of public interest (especially given the situation women are faced with in this country). We are reaching out to the national press in various ways, but there are structural and political barriers that are hard to overcome particularly in the Urdu press. Any significant attention from social media and international actors can be critical in helping generate local coverage.

Everyone is invited to contribute in whatever way they can. If you have any ideas, wish to get involved in our work in any way (beyond tomorrow’s events) please do get in touch. Also, bear in mind that it is not just about these rallies but about the larger project of the reconstruction of the Pakistani Left, which is essential to moving this society out of the destructive morass it is steeped in.

Thank you all for your support. Feel free to contact us for more information (included in the event above).

Best,

Alia Amirali
Awami Workers Party

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The Awami Workers Party is organizing countrywide rallies on the occasion of International Women’s Day on 8^th March, 2015 to raise the issue of the systematic exploitation and oppression of women in Pakistan and call for struggle against the stifling forms of patriarchy that dehumanize and brutalize women in our society.

In addition to the rallies, the AWP is conducting a campaign on social media and the streets (involving different women’s groups we work with around the country) to draw attention to the structural causes of women’s oppression in Pakistan and bring the conversation on patriarchy into the political mainstream. Please follow and share the campaign through the AWP’s facebook and twitter pages (and through the hashtag #AuratJagi and #AWPWomensDay).

The AWP stands and struggles for:

1) The elimination of all social, political and economic structures and patriarchal traditions built upon the enslavement of women.

2) Ensuring equal opportunities and status for women in all spheres of life.

3) Eliminating all forms of discriminatory laws and violence against women.

4) Ending all forms of exploitation based on class, nation, religion, sect, and gender.

5) Defeating religious fundamentalism and terrorism, because they are fundamentally opposed to women’s equality, freedom and progress.

On this day rallies and events will take place in the following cities and districts:

Islamabad: 3 PM, Aabpara Community Center, G-6
Hyderabad: 11 AM from Old campus to Hyderabad Press Club
Faisalabad: 11 AM, Zila Council to Kachehry bazar
Lahore: 1 PM, Sarai Dhobian Model Town extension
Mianwali: 11 AM, Main Bazaar, Kalabagh
Gujranwala: 10 AM, Opposite DPS, GT Road
Peshawar: 2:00 PM, Press Club, Opposite Railway Station, Saddar
Naushero Feroz: 2 PM (Intelligentsia Science College, Dadu Road, Moro)
Kasur: 10 AM, Kasur Railway station
Sanghar: 20^th March
Sheikhupura: 15^th March
Okara: 15^th March
Wanki Wassi: 13^th March
Multan: TBA
Nasirabad: TBA
Karachi: TBA
Others TBA

Will share further details as they are finalized. Please join us in the meantime and help us spread the word.

In solidarity,

Ammar Rashid
Information Secretary
AWP Islamabad/Rawalpindi

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