The defining moment It was perhaps the darkest period in the history of Pakistan. Personal emancipation, liberty, freedom of expression, democracy and political rights and activities became a distant dream and the state was held hostage by the virtue of one despot’s greed for power. Marginalised sections of the society, including women, minorities and the poorest of the poor were subjected to draconian laws and discrimination. Yet, it was women, more than any other group, who were the direct target of Ziaul Haq’s misogynist regime under his ostensible Islamisation endeavour. A group of 17 likeminded women, however, on 16 September, 1981, deified the might of the chauvinistic and patriarchal state and formed the Women’s Action Forum (WAF) in Karachi to resist the newly formulated tyrannical laws that reduced their status to second class citizens as well as to strive for political and democratic rights. While this forum by middle class professional women, soon after its launch, became an alliance of different women rights groups committed to the cause of seeking justice for women and attainment of basic human rights for them, including education, employment, physical security, choice of marital status, planned parenthood and equality. The precursor event, which set the Forum in motion was a Zina case, when a 16-year-old girl, Fehmeida Allah Bakhsh, was sentenced to flogging, for merely exercising her choice in marriage. This case became a watershed moment for the women’s movement in Pakistan, and with unbreakable resolve they decided enough is enough, and began a struggle against the discriminatory laws against their gender. The first meeting was held in the Shirkat Gah office and the members that were present were Zohra Yusuf, Hilda Saeed, the late Najma Babar, Tehmina Ahmed, Kausar S. Khan, Fareeda Shaheed, Ghazala Rehman, Humaira Rehman, Aban Marker, Mumtaz Noorani, Najma Sadeque, Tehmina Ahmed, Sheema Kirmani, among others. The organisations which endorsed its charter were Tehrik-i-Niswan, Democratic Women Association, Shirkatgah, APWA, Pakistan Women Lawyers Association and later on Sindiani Tehrik. The Lahore chapter was formed few months later in October 1981 and Rawalpindi/Islamabad chapter was formed in November in the same year. The first convention was held in Lahore, 1982 where it was decided to convert it into an organisation in order to delegate responsibilities. According to a veteran activist, “We deliberated on many names and in the end opted for ‘forum’ because it was supposed to be a platform where likeminded individuals and organisations could come and share their ideas A plethora of contemplation was given to the word ‘action’ as we didn’t want to be seen as a social welfare organisation rather we were interested in political activism and mobilisation.” The Lahore Chapter was split in two factions i.e. WAF National and WAF Democratic due to some ideological or procedural differences which were subsequently removed. Another defining moment was on February 12, 1983, when WAF in collaboration with Pakistan Women Lawyers’ Association held a public rally against the Law of Evidence in Lahore which was brutally disbursed by the police. After this atrocious onslaught student and trade unions and political activists joined the struggle against the distortion of the social order. And the WAF emerged as a vanguard of the democratic movement. Over the last 30 years, it has been involved in active advocacy and lobbying, for women’ rights. It is committed to the ideals of a just, secular and peaceful society and believes in a democratic, pluralistic, multi-ethnic, open-minded and peaceful realm which takes diversity in its stride. According to its charter, the Forum is a non-partisan, non-hierarchical and non-funded organisation. It is supportive of all aspects of womens rights and related issues, irrespective of political affiliations, belief system, or ethnicity. Simultaneously, it also associates itself with other egalitarian and moderate forces besides connecting its struggle with minorities and other subjugated sections. It played a major role in the promulgation of the recent pro-women legislative bills. However, as one of the founding member states defiantly, “As long as social, economic and gender inequalities are present in society our struggle will continue,” and ends the conversation with a slogan, “Women united can never be defeated.”
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 16:38:25 +0000