Just a few days before the Aurat March, an extremist mob vandalised the mural of two women painted on the walls of a house in Islamabad.
According to one of the organizers of the Aurat March, Tooba Syed, the extremists stopped them from painting the mural in the presence of police. She took to Twitter and said that the clerics threatened them and said that the image was 'fahashi' (obscene).
She continued that the organizers of the Aurat March had asked permission from the owners of the house to paint the mural.
The first two are the photos of the mural which has been sprayed black by the goons of Lal Masjid in Islamabad. The city administration didn’t do anything. The police stood there watching and asking us to stop. This was painted by permission of the family. How is this okay?! pic.twitter.com/jxhcsrC0E6
— Tooba Syed AWP ? (@Tooba_Sd) March 3, 2020
Sharing a before and an after picture, Syed said that the mural has been sprayed black by the Lal Masjid clerics in the presence of police from Abpara Police Station.
Witness the before and after of the goons of Lal Masjid + cowardice of Islamabad police. I'm speechless.@sherryrehman @ShireenMazari1#WhyIMarch #AuratAzadiMarch2020 pic.twitter.com/3vtrccpihc
— Faizan. (@merabichrayaar) March 3, 2020
Lal Masjid goons arrived to violently shut down a beautiful mural painting by #AuratAzadiMarch2020 artists in G-7 Islamabad because of 'fahashi' & 'uncovered women'. The police arrived & asked the artists to stop & leave 'to avoid any trouble'. Barefaced fundamentalist thuggery. pic.twitter.com/wnDEy4Tu00
— Ammar Rashid ? (@AmmarRashidT) March 3, 2020
Our existence,our politics,our art, our labour will not be rendered invisible by a handful of right wing goons. We will fight back with our slogans, our creativity and our resolve to continue fighting the system! Before & after of mural. #AuratAzadiMarch2020 pic.twitter.com/Zf2SUr1ysT
— Tooba Syed AWP ? (@Tooba_Sd) March 3, 2020
This unfinished mural (now covered with black paint) will forever be the testament to the thuggery of the religious right, who turn a blind eye when women get raped and killed but turn into beasts when we talked about getting Azadi from the same oppression.#AuratAzadiMarch2020 pic.twitter.com/kTxjYJWQQw
— Maria H. Malik ? (@marriyamalik1) March 3, 2020