When Bill Gates visited Pakistan a very negative picture and impression was set, one which he himself wouldn’t have anticipated.
The entire meeting did not have any woman which is quiet absurd as Bill Gates was on a visit to learn from our country’s polio eradication efforts & who better than women can shed a light on it?
It’s the women of our society who have built a trusting and lasting relationship & community. They have fought strong and hard to help curb polio from our country, they’ve held vaccination programmes & always been at front lines helping and working. They have been like a backbone for us all yet we as a nation failed to recognise their efforts and chose not to make them sit in the visit.
Quaid e Azam once said “No nation can ever be worthy of its existence that cannot take its women along with the men.’’
Talk about Bill Gate’s visit which was more polio-focused but one can’t help notice that he is a tech-master & women in Pakistan rank high among Pakistan’s tech stars. They’ve performed & worked in digital world exceptionally well but not involving them, we sent a message across globe that we are inconvenient, ignorant and irrelevant people.
Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri called for the UN-designated International Women’s Day on March 8 to be replaced with International Hijab Day. This is a direct act on women’s right & an attack against Aurat March. This is where the problem lies, it’s deeply rooted in our society. Aurat March doesn’t impose anything on anyone rather they simply ask their due rights and process be acknowledged.
The lunch held for Bill Gates with ‘only men’ sent a message that we are a weak society and an anti-women society for sure. It shows that we are a fiercely patriarchal and misogynistic society. It was sickening to witness that not even a single woman was present in the meeting & hence it proves why Aurat March is necessary. That’s why this year’s Aurat March in Karachi is focused on women’s labour rights, under the slogan of ‘Humari Mehnat, Humara Haq’. And these themes are important as they demand things which are long overdue!
