For the organisers of the annual women’s rights demonstration known as Aurat (Women) March, it had been a stressful few days leading up to the event in Karachi, held this year on May 10 to coincide with Mother’s Day.As always, it was a struggle to obtain the no-objection certificate known as NOC, a colonial-era administrative permit required for public gatherings.Four days before the event, when organisers arrived at the Karachi Press Club to hold a press conference about this, police apprehended classical dancer and theatre activist Sheema Kermani, one of the movement’s leaders. She is also a leading voice for peace with neighbouring India and in the region.Half a dozen other women activists were similarly detained. Videos of police grabbing the 75-year old Kermani by her arms and shoving her into a police van went viral, sparking massive outrage in Pakistan as well as across the region and in the diaspora.Sheema Kermani has spent decades fighting for women’s rights, artistic freedom, and the right to speak without fear in Pakistan.Now at 75, videos of her being forcefully dragged by police in Karachi while trying to seek permission for the Aurat March have sparked outrage online… pic.twitter.com/W50wgZzomu— The CSR Journal (@thecsrjournal) May 25, 2026
How Aurat March organisers overcame Pakistan government hurdles to protest for women’s rights
Scores of working and middle-class women, non-binary individuals and male allies poured into the tented seaside venue in the scorching Karachi heat on March 10.
TL;DRAI
Pakistani police detained Aurat March leader Sheema Kermani, 75, in Karachi four days before the May 10 rally, sparking international outrage that ultimately forced authorities to issue the required NOC. International pressure secured the permit, but it came with 28 restrictive conditions Kermani described as "almost fascistic," a pattern of managed repression using bureaucratic tools rather than outright bans.
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