I do not think the comedian Amanullah died because the Aurat March was going ahead. But the fact is that the Lahore and Islamabad High Courts ruled that the March could go ahead, and he gave up the ghost. Does that mean the organisers of the march are humourless? Judging by the exhibition put on by dramatist Khalilur Rehman Qamar on a talk show, opponents certainly are.
I would not claim to support the March. There is an undercurrent which hints that I, a mere man, would not be welcome to comment. The march is against me, right? Okay, I would not be impertinent. But I must point out that one reason we do not have women’s rights might indeed be a misogynist heritage, but that comes from the Hinduism, and Islam moves a stage ahead of the women’s movement by positing both men and women as slaves of the Almighty. It is pointed out that women have been excluded from the position of caliph, for example. Apart from that being a rather academic discussion (for these days, no man can be caliph either), there is the very strict accounting of the ruler, which made the first caliph, Abu Bakr, exclaim that he wished he had been a blade of grass. Each will be accounted for his deeds, and in that perfect justice will be done. In that perfect justice, the Almighty will take into account the sex of the person. From one point of view, it would be a mercy to be forbidden something, for then there will be no accounting in that role.
Another point is that it seems a foreign movement. That impression has been reinforced by the controversial slogan, ‘Mera Jism, Meri Marzi’, which is a translation of the pro-choice slogan, ‘My Body My Choice’. Now it is interesting, but that slogan infuriates a lot of men. That ignores the Shafei view, which merely stipulates that abortions must occur within 40 days of conception. There should be a reason, such as a woman fearing the cosmetic effects of the pregnancy on, yes, her body. It is hers. She will have to account to the Almighty for what she did with it.
Well, while the Aurat March is going ahead, Umrah is not, while Hajj may be suspended, and that Western act of collective worship, the Olympics, which are to be held in Tokyo, and all because of the coronavirus. Well, the coronavirus has infected more than 105,000 people worldwide, well, 99 countries and territories), and more than 3,500 have died. The bulk of the cases are in China still, but the number from Iran and Italy are so impressive that the Chinese authorities claim that returning travellers from those two countries have infected Chinese people who had stayed at home. And there are now reports that pilgrims returning from Iran were not the first infections, but travellers returning from China. The government is trying to sit on this because they feel the truth would spoil relations with China. Why do they not make sure that nothing goes wrong, and shut down Internet services? And under the circumstances, can we risk a public assembly? Like the Aurat March.
And just as Amanullah did not give up the ghost in ire against it, Punjab Advocate General Jamal Sukhera also did not resign because of it. However, it was probably not related to the earlier resignation of the attorney general, but it did mean that Usman Buzdar was as short of legal advice as his leader.
Another person who seems bereft of legal advice is Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, though as the holder of a law degree he can advise himself, not something that can be said for our own prime minister and his followers here. And for a family that rules a country, he has been a little disrespectful, for he has arrested his uncle, and two cousins, including the previous Crown Prince, for ‘attempting a coup’. I wonder if Imran will learn from this how to deal with the people behind the sugar and what crises. Not that anyone in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) dares attempt a coup against him.
