Baray banay thay Jalib Sahib giray sarak kay beech, Laathi khai, danda khaya pitay sarak kay beech...

Exactly 30 years ago, on Feb 12, 1983, the police brutally blocked a Women Action Forum protest against Gen Ziaul Haq’s Hudood Ordinance in Lahore. ‘We all marched down The Mall. Then the baton charge started. A policeman brutally pulled Habib Jalib by the collar (garebaan)… Quite few women activists were dragged to the Kot Lakhpat Jail…’ Many women activists were injured and have since been carrying the memories of that day as a proud legacy of their movement. Over time the pictures of the martial law regime seeking to quell the rational voices came to serve as a metaphor for not only the struggle for women’s rights here, but for all progressive movements in the country. Dawn’s Azhar Jafri was around to capture the images for all times to come.