‘Aurat March’: Govt support only if religious, social values respected

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the PM on Information and Broadcasting Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan Friday promised to support the planned Aurat March if it avoided trampling the concept of decency (chadar and char-dewari), saying some slogans running contrary to Islam and social values were being promoted.

Speaking at a function here, Dr Awan said, “A handful of persons with a specific mindset were engaged in misleading my entire nation, my daughters and sisters. The slogans they raise are neither permitted by our religion nor our social system allows them and our home environment does so”. She said it would have to be seen as to why those handful of persons were chanting such slogans, which our minds did not tend to accept even. She said Islam had already defined the concept of ‘chadar and char-dewari’, whereas before Islam, there was no concept of women rights in the entire Arab. Holding a peaceful protest, she emphasised, was the constitutional right of every Pakistani but certain women were trying to promote objectionable slogans in the name of women rights. “We should talk about our rights while remaining within the religious and social limits. Islam has given wide-ranging rights to women in the name of mother, daughter, sister and wife,” she pointed out.

She maintained that the Constitution of Pakistan provided protection and rights to women and that it was the aim of the government to make women independent and empower them. She noted that the law on women inheritance was also part of the same.

Dr. Firdous insisted that women had a key role in the stability and economic development of Pakistan.

Speaking on political matters, she said PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi himself had conceded that the old political model had failed to deliver. She said the MQM leadership had distanced itself from the statement of PML-N leaders, who, she alleged, were trying to give lessons to the nation after they were being held accountable.

On the treatment of Nawaz Sharif, she asserted that the Sharif family had failed to identify a hospital during the last three months for treatment of Nawaz Sharif.