A group of women wearing hijab and burqas took out a rally at Zila Council Chowk in Faisalabad on Saturday in protest against Aurat March, which is scheduled to be held in different cities of Pakistan on Sunday.

As Pakistan celebrates International Women’s Day like other parts of the world on Sunday (March 8), a religious group organised a protest against Aurat March and brought a good number of women out to show their street power against Sunday’s march.

The participants in the march said that Islam is the religion, which has given every woman her rights and four persons (father, brother, husband and son) to guard her against any threat. They said the slogan “Mera Jism, Meri Marzi” or “My Body, My Choice” is nothing, but an attempt to promote immorality in the society.

Earlier on Friday, different religious groups, including Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, announced Haya March to counter Aurat March. “We will hold a peaceful Haya March outside the Lahore Press Club to counter Aurat March,” a cleric from the groups organising Haya March told the media after the government gave a go-ahead to organisers of Aurat March.

Speaking on the occasion, Mufti Abdullah said that government’s decision to allow Aurat March was a deplorable act. He said that such activities should be discouraged by the government because Pakistan is an Islamic Republic. He said that Aurat March was against the constitution.

Pir Azizur Rehman said that religious figures would not object to peaceful rallies, but they feared such rallies would promote vulgarity. He said: “Islam guarantees women all rights. A bunch of women are trying to sabotage the International Women’s Day. The government should make public the sources where these women are receiving funds from. They are projecting the Western agenda. All such NGOs should be banned.”