A young feminist movement that has faced criticism for being influenced by Western values teamed up with a veteran activist group to mark Pakistan’s national women’s day on Wednesday.

Aurat March emerged in 2018 alongside International Women’s Day but has faced a fierce backlash, accused of vulgarity and threatening family values for focusing on issues such as divorce, harassment and consent.

It joined Women’s Action Forum (WAF) for the first time this year to commemorate February 12, 1983, when women staged a milestone demonstration against military dictator General Ziaul Haq.

“We want to celebrate and honor the women who have fought for women’s rights from 1983 to now and even before that,” Haiqa Nasir, a member of Aurat March in Lahore, told AFP.

More than 300 women and men marched in the city in Pakistan’s east carrying placards reading “freedom, security, peace”.

In much of conservative, deeply patriarchal Pakistan, cultural expectations prevent women from freely choosing who to marry, their education and right to work.

WAF was formed in 1981 in response to Haq’s Hudood Ordinance — a process of Islamization criminalizing adultery and making a rape victim liable to prosecution if she could not produce male witnesses.

The laws have since been repealed.

Activists of ‘Aurat March’ group take part in a rally to mark Pakistan’s National Women’s Day, in Lahore on February 12, 2025. AFP

“Now, it is our time to go — we are here to hand over the reins to the younger generation,” said 79-year-old WAF member Khawar Mumtaz.

Mumtaz took part in the 1983 demonstration in Lahore that was brutally suppressed with tear gas and baton charges.

“They beat us with sticks, some people fainted, others got injured. No woman in Pakistan had ever been in such a protest before that day,” she said.

WAF activist Erum Malik said partnering with Aurat March was “a step forward”.

“Movements take generations to reach their goals,” she told AFP. “It’s about our yesterdays, today and tomorrows.”

Organizers of Wednesday’s rally were initially refused permission on security grounds but received the go-ahead after a court challenge — a battle familiar to Aurat March.

Criticism of the feminist group often overshadows its calls for improved girls’ education, political representation and an end to bonded labor.

Their marches attract thousands of young women protesters across the country, with counter-rallies staged by religious groups calling for the preservation of Islamic values.

Groups of hardline religious men turned up in vans and hurled stones at women participating in the Islamabad rally in 2020.