Thread by @ZainabKDurrani

I thought, a couple of weeks ago of writing a piece titled 'Battening the Hatches' in anticipation of the barrage of absolute and utter shit that would rise to the top like a rain gutter in a torrential monsoon, on the 8th of March this year.

I wanted to counteract the inevitable, not sure why.
In a country where hope is a sliver, and your own; your parents, friends, psuedo-woke saathi all find one way or another to undermine you and the work you believe in, this interception I figured just now, is futile.

8th March ho gi. #AuratMarch bhi ho gi. Naaray bhi uthain gay. Gand bhi uchlay ga. Sawal bhi uthain gay. Gaaliyon ki tu farawani ho gi.

Lekin koi manshoor nahi paray ga. 2-4 kay ilawa kisi poster ko koi nahi dekhay ga.

Because we made up our minds the first time(in this wave) we saw women, our bastions of honour, trample all over our regressive collective mindset and March.
We decided they were loud because their points were weak. Sensationalist because their position was illogical.

We said to ourselves 'hey this is good as a topic of conversation for casual ridicule with my friends/family/coworker'. It's the perfect issue to belittle because I'm not affected by it.

And that's 👏where👏 you're 👏wrong

It affects every part of your life. It's seeped in ways so insidious and deeply-entrenched that pulling one thread is like unraveling that old ball of yarn from the back of the closet that'll undo the whole pretence of our lives.

If I think too much about it,you say, I'll maybe have to realize that accepting it for myself means I'm accepting it for everyone around me and my generations to come.
We claim to love our children, but not enough to affect change?

If I think too much about it,you say, I'll have to take accountability of the fact that my male privilege protects me in innumerable ways and makes my life so much easier by comparison. If I go down that road, it's revisited decisions, words and mantras that are just too tedious.

If I think too much, you say, I might have to look within & reevaluate all my behavior. Every time I've sexualized a girl/woman's body & participated in the culture of harassment and rape. I might have to admit that honour by our definition is toxic to the point of being fatal.

We all contribute. All of us. Every day.I know I have,that I used to. I know I've unlearned and relearned. I know I've had to keep my judgement in check. I know I've retorted unkindly. I know also that I cannot bear the burden of others learning. But I do know we owe it to us all

All I can hope is that this year before you decide to be a troll/ dismissive commentator/tool of negativity against #AuratMarch that you decide to look at the manifestos created by them. You look at the work they've done. You look at what prompts us with such urgency to March.

Because there's nothing 'foreign' about our particular brand of patriarchy, femicide and misogyny.
It's all homegrown.

@AuratMarch