The Aurat March, has faced much backlash from the masses, with massive trolling on social media and incidents where their murals have been covered or torn down. The movement faces another blow as the Lahore High Court accepted to hear a petition to stop the Aurat March 2020 which is scheduled to take place on the 8th of March. Additional Director Cybercrime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency and Deputy Inspector General Operations have been summoned by the court on February 27.
What is the petition?
The petition has been filed by Judicial Activism Council Chairman Azhar Siddique who stated “there are various anti-state parties present who are funding this Aurat March with the sole purpose of spreading anarchy amongst the masses”.
Siddique’s petition also termed the march “against the very norms of Islam” and that its hidden agenda is to spread “anarchy, vulgarity and hatred”. “During last year’s Aurat March, women were holding placards that had objectionable messages,” said Siddique.
The petition requested the court to effectively promulgate the Acts mentioned in the petition to “silence the advertisement of Aurat March on social media and to regulate protests such as the Aurat March”.
This isn’t his first action against the Aurat March
Siddique previously submitted an application to the Capital City Police Office (CCPO) Lahore to register a first information report against the “women holding objectionable placards at the march” but police did not take any action, as stated in the petition.
He also submitted another application to enforce the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 and Citizen Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules, 2020 to “stop the promotion of anti-state activities such as Aurat March on social media” along with another application for the promulgation of the Punjab Red Zone (Establishment and Security) Act, 2018 throughout all of Punjab.
The LHC has directed the federal government lawyer to ask for instructions from the Ministry of Interior and inform the court.
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