After being named a respondent in a constitutional petition against Aurat March, the Karachi Arts Council is now preparing itself for a legal retort. Strangely enough, the court petition is still unavailable even two days after a two-member bench, headed by Chief Justice SHC Aqueel Ahmad Abbasi, issued notices to the Sindh government and other concerned parties.
The SHC issued the notices on Monday, after a group of women lawyers led by one Sameena Rizwan, filed the petition claiming that the march promoted activities against Islamic values and societal norms. The petition uses the words “dance and nudity” being promoted in the guise of women’s freedom, it said, adding that the Arts Council provided a platform to such activities.
For Ahmad Shah, the President of the Council, not only is it a mystery why the respondents have not been able to access a copy of the petition, it is also factually incorrect.
“We (Arts’ Council) are a great supporter of all human rights activists,” said Ahmad Shah while talking to Voicepk. “But the fact is that nothing can be further from the truth when they give the reference of a dance show and connect it to Aurat March. The dance show was an Arts’ Council event and was held on March 8, and had nothing to do with Aurat March. We hold this event once a year as usual.”
For now, Shah intends to wait a day so he can access the petition to ‘at least find out what it says and then call an internal meeting to decide how to respond. By Wednesday evening, however, he had not received the document.
“If you go by what they want then in that case they believe we should close down everything – all the culture and arts we exhibit – because almost anything can be obscene for them. They claim that they are ‘concerned citizens’, but using this reason they cannot just get things closed down each time.”
Allies of the Council have already offered to help them legally.
“We are in the process of getting an official lawyer, as many of our friends have volunteered, but even for that I first need to read the petition,” he says. “The important thing is, we don’t need just legal help, we also need an opinion campaign, to counter such voices.”
‘Anti-Islamic’
While Sameena Rizwan was unavailable for any comments about her petition, the language refers to Aurat March being detrimental to society and Islamic Shariah. The court has asked the parties to respond at the next hearing on March 19. It has also nominated PEMRA, and the federal and provincial governments.
The petitioners objected to cultural centers and parks being used for events like the Aurat March, requesting a ban on this practice.
In court the petitioner said that the constitution was fully Islamic and such events were against Islamic social norms, the petitioner said. Women are being invited to leave work to dance, and throughout the year such ‘immoral activities’ are carried out in the garb of women’s rights, said the petition, and unscrupulous elements are given way. To please Western powers, Islamic conjunctions are ignored.
The petitioner wrote that the cause was still important because if this was not stopped, such activities would take place again. They said the women of Pakistan were seriously concerned as they wanted to spend their lives under Islamic law.
‘Dance not a crime’
Since this news broke out, there has been concern expressed from all quarters, especially from those who are closely associated with the arts in any form.
Sheema Kirmani, whose dance at Sehwan Sharif was the loudest cry against the terror attack in 2017, killing over 70 people there, reiterates her point.
“Why is it that whenever it comes to dance, all of a sudden people are reminded of Islam?” she asks. “Why is dance viewed as something obscene – were all those sufi saints and other revered people like Bulleh Shah and others also being obscene when they danced?”
Kirmani also points out that the petition is phrased in such a way that it only addresses the government, and the arts council, but not the women of the Aurat March – but at the same time, it is anti-Aurat March.
“Its not exactly addressing us,” she says. “But one thing is for sure – we must counter the mindset and keep addressing the issue at hand.”