It happened on the night of Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Police in Karachi, Pakistan, arrested the renowned classical dancer and human rights activist Sheema Kermani. On paper, there is no shortage of charges against her—violating ‘Section 144’, unlawful assembly (Section 147), or blocking roads (Section 341). But the ‘crimes’ the state has registered against her are, in reality, the bold expressions of an artist’s independent and fearless soul. Sheema Kermani is not just a world-renowned Bharatanatyam dancer; she is a cornerstone of the feminist movement in South Asia and the chief architect of the “Aurat March” in Pakistan.
What more can one truly expect from a bankrupt Pakistan—a state that has crippled its own economy, politics, and social fabric! How fragile and cowardly must a state be for its foundations to be shaken by the rhythmic footsteps of a 75-year-old woman’s dance? It is then you realize that, in this day and age, there is no weapon more dangerous to autocratic and bankrupt rulers than truth and art. What a bizarre regime! The roar of guns and the bravado of terrorists are tolerable here, but the chiming of a woman’s anklets is strictly forbidden. Selling one’s spine to injustice is the standard norm here, while expressing oneself through art is considered a colossal audacity.
Sheema Kermani wears a sari, adorns her forehead with a large red bindi, and dances on stage. She does exactly what is natural for a free human being to do. Do you know what her main “problem” is? She feels no need to seek anyone’s “permission.” Even during the dark days of General Zia-ul-Haq’s military dictatorship, she chose classical dance as her language of protest. And this very act of “not seeking permission” is the greatest crime in the eyes of fundamentalism and the patriarchal power structure. Because this bankrupt system cannot tolerate free individuals; they want loyal, obedient, and silent puppets. The center of power fears the unbowed head the most. And to mask that fear, rules, religion, or the pretext of so-called culture are used as shields.
History bears witness to this campaign of suppression. Sometimes it is the pressure to veil the face, sometimes the decree to hide one’s hair, or at other times, the vile attempt to silence a woman’s voice. And whenever someone tries to break these chains, they instantly become an enemy of the system. When a suicide bombing targeted Sufi devotees at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, it was Sheema Kermani who rushed to the scene. Standing over the blood, she performed the ‘Dhamal’ (a Sufi dance) and sang songs of love. Today, that fearless voice has been shackled by legal loopholes.
Many might be thinking, “Oh, what’s the big deal? It’s just a routine arrest!” To them, I say—you actually do not want to understand the truth. Because grasping the truth requires stepping out of the ‘opportunistic’ comfort zones of your lived realities, a courage you lack. Society has always demanded controlled, so-called ‘proper’, and silent women. Sheema Kermani is behind bars today precisely because she shattered that toxic silence.
And those of you seeking justification for this arrest under the guise of so-called culture, you are merely a ‘soft version’ of that very same oppressive and bankrupt mentality. Those who remain apathetic during protests against injustice, muttering “our culture is different” or “there’s no need to overreact,” are essentially taking the side of the oppressor. No matter how progressive you fancy yourselves standing in front of the mirror, at the end of the day, you are nothing but opportunists. Screaming at the top of your lungs against one specific injustice while staying silent on another of the same kind is anything but feminism.
What Sheema Kermani has done is not some miraculous heroism; it is exactly what should have been the norm. But I salute the unwavering courage with which she is fighting a lonely battle just to exercise that normalcy. When the blood of Mahsa Aminis spills on the streets, our apathy is deeply shameful.
Will you answer one question?—Has a man ever been arrested or harassed simply for carrying his own body on his own terms or for wearing clothes of his own choice? You know the answer very well. But you will not admit it out loud, because doing so would bring your carefully curated patriarchal houses of cards crashing down.
You mock feminism because you never had to take to the streets just to defend your very existence. You have never shrunk in fear over your own physical body. No one has ever dictated to you how visible you are allowed to be and how much you must stay hidden. This sheer ‘privilege’ is exactly what has blinded your conscience.
So, if you still consider feminism an “overreaction,” know this—you are inherently a part of this toxic system. These words might sound harsh, but the time for serving the truth in softened, polite language has long since passed. Sheema Kermani has not really been arrested; rather, through her arrest, the absolute cowardice, nakedness, and bankruptcy of a state have once again been exposed before the entire world.