Women bicycle rally, a first for Pakistan, postponed amidst protest threats

Pakistan's first women's bicycle rally, scheduled to take place here on Saturday, has been postponed after religious parties threatened to protest against the event, which they said, will spread obscenity. Zama Jawandoon, an organization working for women's rights, had organized the 'peace rally' that was scheduled to begin from Peshawar's Hayatabad neighborhood on Saturday, the Dawn reported. At least 35 women were slated to participate in the rally and people from the transgender community were also invited, said the event's lead organizer, Wafa Wazir.

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam – Fazl (JUI-F), Jamaat-i-Islami, and other religious parties on Friday announced they would stage a protest against the rally in Hayatabad. "The women's bicycle rally is spreading obscenity," JUI-F's Maulana Rafiullah Qasmi said at a meeting held on Friday. He announced that they would contact the relevant departments to have the event canceled and if that is not done, a demonstration will be held against the rally on Saturday, the daily reported. The threat of the protest led the organizers to cancel the rally a day before it was scheduled to take place.

The lead organizers of the rally said they had approached the Peshawar district administration before announcing the event and were subsequently issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) to hold the rally. But she said they had decided to postpone the event after the protest call by religious groups because they did not want the rally to take place in a state of any unrest. Police, however, told the daily that the organisers of the event had not approached them to obtain an NOC or seek security. "After receiving information about the (planned) protest against the race, police contacted the organizers and they revealed that the rally had been postponed," SP Cantt Wasim Riaz said.

He said it was the responsibility of the police to provide security to any events in the city, adding that organisers must first obtain a police clearance. According to Riaz, police had not received any directions from the district administration or any other department for the provision of security to the women's bicycle rally. Pakistan is the fourth worst country for women according to recently released rankings of the Women, Peace and Security Index. Women's average years of schooling in the country stands at only five years, while only 33 per cent of Pakistani women have been found to use cellphones. Only 24 per cent of Pakistani women are employed.