City celebrates Int’l Women’s Day as ‘Benazir Day’

LAHORE: International Women’s Day (IWD) 2008 was celebrated as ‘Benazir Bhutto Day’ with full spirit by the civil society on Saturday.

Various non-governmental organisations, civil society associations, labour and journalist unions held seminars, press conferences, walks and candlelit vigils throughout the day to commemorate the struggle of women all across the globe.

The Women’s Action Forum (WAF) held a press conference at the Lahore Press Club to pay tribute to all Pakistani women who had struggled for equal rights, peace, justice and dignity both in the past and the present.

The WAF also dedicated the IWD 2008 to Benazir Bhutto for her sacrifice for the cause of democracy and equal rights for women. Various prominent human rights activists attended the conference and addressed the press on the issues of women’s rights. The participants were also wearing dupattas (scarves) with the charter of women’s rights convention printed on them.

Farida Shahid, Nighat Saeed Khan, Shahtaj Qazalbash, Rubina Sehgal, Naila Naz and Samina Rehman spoke on the occasion. The speakers said that the WAF had taken the initiative to challenge the discriminatory laws against women such as the Hudood Ordinance, Law of Evidence and the Qisas law, related to honour killings right from the Zia era and was still fighting for the repeal of these laws.

Talking about the Women Protection Bill, the speakers were of the view that it was a good effort on the part of the government, but a lot needed to be done to make it effective since its implementation could not be seen anywhere.

The speakers also pointed out that the Political Parties Act should be improved, as more women should be allowed to contest on the general seats apart from the reserved seats. They also said that the rising graph of violence against women would continue to rise unless the government put in its efforts to eliminate the root causes of the issue.

In the end, the speakers said they had high hopes that the new government would work on women’s issues and that the civil society would fully support the government.

APWA holds 18th Triennial Conference: All Pakistan Women’s Association (APWA) held its 18th Triennial Conference at its provincial headquarters in the backdrop of IWD. Delegates from all over the country participated in the conference where future strategies regarding APWA’s activities and policies were discussed. The two-day conference will end on Sunday.

Working Women Organisation (WWO) held a seminar at the Lahore Press Club (LPC). Different trade union representatives, lawyers, political party workers and media personnel also attended the seminar. WWO Coordinator Aima Mehmood and President Rubina Jamil, while speaking on the occasion, said that the condition and status of women in Pakistan made it seem as if the country were still living in the dark ages. They added that 80% of the population lived in villages where women were denied the right to education and finances.

SAP holds walk and candlelit vigil: South Asia Partnership-Pakistan (SAP) held a walk from the LDA plaza to the LPC where they held a candlelit vigil. Punjab Union of Journalists, Electronic Media Reporters Association, and other civil society organisations participated in the event. The activists stressed the need for women to organise themselves in a way so that they could fight for their rights which were bestowed by the law and Islam. Further, it was said that unless women stood for their rights, their conditions would not improve in society. The Centre for Clinical Psychology also organised a walk that ended at the Punjab University main campus.

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