KARACHI: There were several events held across Karachi and other cities of Sindh to mark International Women`s Day on Saturday.

At almost every event, the participants voiced their concerns over the federal government`s controversial canals project and vowed to fight against any anti-Sindh move.

The most notable of these was the Mehnatkash Aurat Rally organised by the Home-Based Women Workers Federation(HBWWF)in Karachiunder the slogan `Class resistance against the looting of the Indus River, our land and environment`.

The rally asked the people of Punjab and progressive forces across Pakistan to stand in solidarity with Sindh against what they called `life-threatening projects`.

The rally, which began from the Boy Scouts Auditorium, culminated at the Arts Council of Pakistan with women workers, labourers and human rights activists with bright red flags chanting slogans and holding up placards against corporatefarming, environmental destruction, Indus water theft, feudal structures that sustain systemic oppression.

Highlighting the growing gender oppression, regressivesocial attitudes, and the inherent biases against women, the Mehnatkash Aurat Rally called upon the people of Punjab and progressive forces across Pakistan to stand in solidarity with Sindh just as the rulingelite were united in implementing anti-people policies. `The oppressed must also unite to resist these life-threatening projects,` they added.

Speaking on the occasion, HBWWF`s General Secretary Zehra Khan said that the 2022 floods had adversely impacted the Sindh province and three years on, the displaced population was still living without homes. She added that the noods destroyed thousands of acres of crops and livelihoods.

She warned that climate change and environmentally destructive projects were worseningwomen`s economic and social exploitation.

She also emphasised that the gender-based wage disparity and continuous informalisation of the economy and production had led to widespread lawlessness, which was disproportionately affecting women. The number of women working in informal sectors has risen rapidly, exacerbating their economic vulnerability.

National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) General Secretary Nasir Mansoor said that the Indus River is a lifeline for Pakistan and in particular Sindh, and it is being blocked under the pretext of water management projects, putting 4.9 million hectares of Sindh`s agricultural land at risk of desertification.

Renowned writer Noorul Huda Shah said that climate change had already made the lives of the poor populace of Sindh miserable and now the federal government`s six-canal project on the Indus River was likely to make it worse. She said that it was a matter of survival of future generations and that the elite seem the least bothered about this because they have the means to move out of the country.

Asad Iqbal Butt of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said that Karachi was most vulnerable to the sixcanal project as the city was at the tail end of the Indus River. He added that the rulers were lyingabout the project and hiding the fact that the project was intended to benefit capitalists and only one province.

Mahnaz Rahman said that climate change was adversely affecting women and diminishing their economic, social, and legal powers. She said that dependence on fossil fuels was primarily responsible for climate change and the phenomenon was playing havoc with the lives of poor people.

Transgender activist Kami Sid said that the capitalist system has brainwashed people into thinking about themselves only. Kami added that transgender people were also impacted by climate change and their needs should be taken into consideration when formulating policies.

The rally demanded that the blockade and theft of Indus River water be stopped and the government ensure fair distribution of water under the 1991 Water Accordand abandon environmentally destructive policies.

The participants also called upon the authorities to guarantee living wages for women workers, eliminate gender-based wage disparities, abolish all discriminatory laws against women and transgender persons, protect women from workplace harassment and enforce the formation of anti-harassment committees in all institutions.

Their demands include recovery of all missing political and social activists, concrete measures to promote girls` education and increase the number of girls` schools, end media restrictions and censorship and stop leasing agricultural land to foreign entities under the guise of cooperative farming.

Fisherfolk rally On the occasion of Women`s Day, hundreds of fisherfolk women from different parts of Karachigathered at Ibrahim Hyderi to demand from the government to immediately cancel the sixcanal project on the Indus River.

They chanted slogans such as `No more canals on the Indus River! Let it flow naturally! While addressing the gathering, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum chairman Mehran Ali Shah reminded that water was everything for fisher folk.

`We cannot survive without water,` he said, while urging the government to release Sindh`s due share of water as per the 1991 Water Accord.

Event at KPC Women`s Day was also commemorated at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) where speakers spoke about the day`s significance in light of raising awareness among women and their capacity building.

The Director General of the Press Information Department, IrumTanveer, was of the view that she has noticed men`s attitude towards women and also women`s attitude towards women. `We blame men for many things. But do other women support us?` She asked. `We need to become each other`s strength,` she pointed out.

Resident Director of Aurat Foundation Muneezeh Khan and Executive Director of NowCommunities Farhat Perveen also spoke.

PTPs `Black Day` Meanwhile, almost every political party either organised an event or issue a statement to mark the day.

The women wing of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) marked the day as a `Black Day` in protest against the alleged injustices and oppression faced by women in Pakistan.

Speaking at a press conference, PTI leader Sarina Khan compared the global celebration of women`s rights with the situation in Pakistan, lamenting, `While women worldwide celebrate this day in vibrant attire, women in Pakistan continue to endure oppression. How can we celebrate Women`s Day in such circumstances? We wear black today as a symbol of protest against the injustices faced by women.

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, party`s women wing president Faryal Talpur, MQM-P chairman Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and many other leaders issued their statements to congratulate the women on International Women`s Day.

In his statement German Consul General in Karachi Dr Rüdiger Lotz said: `No society which excludes half of its members will ever succeed! Let`s collectively accelerate action for women`s equality.