1.

t wasn’t until the ‘Hudood Ordinance’ was implemented in 1979 by Zia-ul-Haq, that feminism in the
country became more politically assertive. The Hudood Ordinance was a doctrine created to align
Pakistani laws with a strict interpretation of Islamic values, but the tenets proved to be largely
discriminatory against Pakistani women. The zina law under this ordinance was perhaps the most
controversial: The law stated that if a woman was raped, she was to prove her case by producing four
Muslim adult male witnesses — a rule so stringent that no victim could ever step forward.

According to the reading and class discussion, over recent years, the Aurat March has managed to
become the torchbearer of the feminist movement by providing an established platform to communally
acknowledge and rebel against discriminative norms. The conversations surrounding child abuse,
underage and forced marriages, inequal career opportunities, and women’s restricted movement in
Pakistani society have all become fair game and open topics for discussion by women of all backgrounds.
This has primarily been instigated through the growing space provided by the Aurat March.

However, in a country like Pakistan, where dogma is largely influenced by religion, progressive
movements like the Aurat March are not particularly well received by religious scholars and politically
conservative groups, who decry the March’s demands and civil disobedience as “un-Islamic.” In the
midst of receiving full support from the PPP, the movement has received considerable backlash from
religious political parties, like the Jamiat Ulema Islam-F (JUI-F).

Opposition to the march and its manifesto is not solely rooted in an extreme, conservative
interpretation of Islam. Nor can it be wholly blamed for the subjugation of women for which
predominantly Muslim countries are made so infamous to the West. “Islam cannot be held responsible
for the oppression of women, gender and sexual minorities,” 

2. Kishwar Naheed uses sarcasm throughout the entire poem to emphasize the point that it is not the
women themselves who choose to be treated like this. In stanza 3, the phrase “while those who sell the
harvests of our bodies/become exalted” can tell the reader that the men who buy the women’s labor
and body become known and praised for ‘their own’ achievements while the women who did the work
get nothing. The repetition of “It is we sinful women” at the beginning of each stanza is effective
because it informs us that it includes all women who are involved with this kind of behavior, she is
speaking for everybody. The quotation “not awed by the grandeur of those who wear gowns”, extracted
from the 6th stanza is a way of saying that not all women are that stereotypical that they care so much
about what someone else is wearing and how it makes them look. The fourth stanza holds refers to the
fact that women in many countries who had the courage, knowledge, power, or opportunity have been
cut off, thrown in the dark, and not allowed to stand up for their own rights. Kishwar Naheed uses a very
deep, meaningful, and powerful theme throughout this poem “We Sinful Women”. It creates the impact
that she has hoped for, as many women are being inspired by her words and take what she says to heart
so that they can do something to make a change.