Reserving its verdict on the maintainability of a petition seeking to restrict the Aurat March for being “unlawful, unconstitutional and un-Islamic”, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has questioned the petitioners’ interpretation of slogans they had objected to.

“The first individuals to embrace Islam were women,” IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah noted as the petitioners’ lawyers told the court that they sought restrictions on the Aurat March — scheduled to take place across the country on March 8 as the world marks Women’s Day — and shared three slogans that women would chant at such an event, Dawn reported.

The eight petitioners had earlier appealed to the court to regulate activities like the Aurat March “subject to law, norms, decency and public morality in the best interest of justice and to order the respondents to perform their obligatory duties towards the Constitution and the law of land in this regard and restrain unlawful, unconstitutional and un-Islamic activities forthwith”.

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“In our society, various Islamic laws are being seriously violated. The court hopes that the petitioner also approaches it for the enforcement of all these Islamic laws,” remarked Justice Minallah during the hearing today.

“The women’s slogans are that they be given the rights that Islam grants them. Can we interpret their slogans by ourselves?” the judge questioned.

“It is important that you see the Aurat March in a positive light. On your own, how can you interpret these slogans?”

The judge also questioned the petitioners’ counsel on how many women in the country were given the right to an inheritance, alluding to the difficulties they face despite clear Islamic laws in place.

“Who ended the practice of burying girls alive?” the IHC chief justice inquired, in response to which the petitioners’ lawyer said Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had done so.

“In our society, the birth of a girl is still not considered good,” he added.

The petitioners’ lawyers told the court that they completely supported women’s rights, adding that they were not opposed to the march or to the rights of women.

They pleaded for the court to pass an order that the march is conducted within the ambit of the law, Constitution and Islam.

Following the statements of the parties in the case today, the IHC reserved its verdict.