LAHORE, Pakistan: Thousands of women took part in rallies across Pakistan on Wednesday despite efforts by authorities in several cities to block the divisive marches.
Known as the Aurat (women) March, the rallies have courted controversy because of banners and placards waved by participants that raise subjects such as divorce, sexual harassment and menstruation.
Each year, some of the most provocative banners ignite weeks of outrage and a slew of violent threats.
“The whole point of the Aurat March is to demand the security and safety that women are not afforded in this country and society,” said Rabail Akhtar, a schoolteacher who joined a crowd of around 2,000 in Lahore to mark International Women’s Day.
“We are not going to sit silently anymore. It’s our day, it’s our time.”
Videos posted on social media showed several police officers baton charging participants as they tried to join the demonstration.
In a tweet, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said the capital’s police chief had been summoned and the officers involved suspended.
City authorities had at the weekend refused to provide security, despite allowing a “modesty” countermarch to go ahead, before a court ordered them to back down.
“It’s ridiculous how we have to go through the same drama every year... Why are they so afraid of women demanding their rights?” asked Soheila Afzal, a graphic designer.
In Karachi, judges dismissed a legal challenge by an individual to ban a related rally scheduled for the weekend so that working women could attend.
In the capital Islamabad, organizers refused to comply with orders to confine the gathering to a city park where a woman was gang raped in February.
Hundreds of women gathered instead outside the city’s press club, where police eventually removed a barricade and allowed the march to begin.
“Women used to be quiet, but now we have women on roads talking about their rights and justice and I think that is the change they were looking for,” said 24-year-old NGO worker Aisha Masood.
The Aurat March is seen by critics as supporting elitist and Western cultural values in the Muslim country, with organizers accused of disrespecting religious and cultural sensitivities.
Countermarches are also held in most cities, where women from right-wing religious groups call for modesty and “family values” to be upheld.
“I will not defend men because we live in a patriarchal and male-dominated society. But we have to ensure an end to violence while confining ourselves within the parameters of Islamic Shariah,” said 45-year-old Asia Yaqoob, a housewife veiled in a hijab at a rally of more than 1,000 women in the capital.
“The beauty of a woman lies in covering her body in a way that our religion teaches.”
In 2020, groups of hard-line Islamist men turned up in vans and hurled stones at women participating in the Aurat March in Islamabad.
Much of Pakistani society operates under a strict code of “honor,” systemising the oppression of women in matters such as the right to choose who to marry, reproductive rights and even the right to an education.
Hundreds of women are killed by men in Pakistan every year for allegedly breaching this code.
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Thousands of women rally in Pakistan despite legal hurdles
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Thousands of women rally in Pakistan despite legal hurdles
- Known as the Aurat (women) March, the rallies have courted controversy because of banners and placards waved by participants
- Videos posted on social media showed several police officers baton charging participants as they tried to join the demonstration
Animal trafficking reaches record high in 2025: Interpol
LYON: Demand for exotic pets drove seizures of live animals to a record high in 2025, the Interpol police agency said Thursday as it announced a clampdown that led to the interception of nearly 30,000 animals.
Interpol said that wildlife crime is now an industry worth more than $20 billion a year, ranging from the movement of thousands of shark fins to banned ivory and primate meat.
In a month-long operation from September 15, law enforcement in 134 countries seized 6,160 birds, 2,040 tortoises, 1,150 reptiles, 208 primates, 46 pangolins, 10 “big cats” and 19,415 other wild animals, Interpol said in a statement. Some 1,100 suspects were detained.
It said that in Qatar, authorities detained a man seeking to sell a primate threatened with extinction for $14,000 on a social media platform. In Brazil, police identified 145 suspects as they rescued more than 200 animals, including in a crackdown on an international golden lion tamarin trafficking ring.
“A shipment from Asia intercepted at a North American mail center contained over 1,300 primate body parts including bones skulls and other derivatives,” the statement said.
Nearly 10,500 butterflies, spiders and insects were also caught in Operation Thunder 2025, highlighting the variety of species being targeted, according to Interpol.
“While live animal seizures reached a record high this year — driven largely by demand for exotic pets — most wildlife trafficking involved animal remains, parts and derivatives, often used in traditional medicine or specialty foods,” the Lyon-based agency said.
“Estimates put the annual value of wildlife crime at $20 billion, but the clandestine nature of the trade suggests that the real figure is likely much higher.”
Interpol said there was “an escalating illicit trade” in bushmeat, the term used for wild animal meat.
It said Belgian authorities intercepted “primate meat,” Kenyan officials seized over 400 kilogrammes (880 pounds) of giraffe meat and Tanzanian law enforcement recovered zebra and antelope meat and skins valued at $10,000.
“Globally, a record 5.8 tons of bushmeat was seized, with a notable increase in cases from Africa into Europe.”
The clampdown also resulted in the seizure of some 32,000 cubic meters of illegally cut wood. Interpol said that illegal forestry accounts for between 15 and 30 percent of global wood trade.
Interpol said that wildlife crime is now an industry worth more than $20 billion a year, ranging from the movement of thousands of shark fins to banned ivory and primate meat.
In a month-long operation from September 15, law enforcement in 134 countries seized 6,160 birds, 2,040 tortoises, 1,150 reptiles, 208 primates, 46 pangolins, 10 “big cats” and 19,415 other wild animals, Interpol said in a statement. Some 1,100 suspects were detained.
It said that in Qatar, authorities detained a man seeking to sell a primate threatened with extinction for $14,000 on a social media platform. In Brazil, police identified 145 suspects as they rescued more than 200 animals, including in a crackdown on an international golden lion tamarin trafficking ring.
“A shipment from Asia intercepted at a North American mail center contained over 1,300 primate body parts including bones skulls and other derivatives,” the statement said.
Nearly 10,500 butterflies, spiders and insects were also caught in Operation Thunder 2025, highlighting the variety of species being targeted, according to Interpol.
“While live animal seizures reached a record high this year — driven largely by demand for exotic pets — most wildlife trafficking involved animal remains, parts and derivatives, often used in traditional medicine or specialty foods,” the Lyon-based agency said.
“Estimates put the annual value of wildlife crime at $20 billion, but the clandestine nature of the trade suggests that the real figure is likely much higher.”
Interpol said there was “an escalating illicit trade” in bushmeat, the term used for wild animal meat.
It said Belgian authorities intercepted “primate meat,” Kenyan officials seized over 400 kilogrammes (880 pounds) of giraffe meat and Tanzanian law enforcement recovered zebra and antelope meat and skins valued at $10,000.
“Globally, a record 5.8 tons of bushmeat was seized, with a notable increase in cases from Africa into Europe.”
The clampdown also resulted in the seizure of some 32,000 cubic meters of illegally cut wood. Interpol said that illegal forestry accounts for between 15 and 30 percent of global wood trade.
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