**TW** Ashok brutally raped Shanti, shoved his hand inside her, mutilated her intestines & rammed a pipe into her body. This assault has left Shanti bleeding nonstop, in a coma, and clinging to life on a ventilator since July 4th. Doctors say her body is giving up on her...

What killed Sheetal wasn’t just her tribe - it is the constant surveillance of a woman’s body. In our society, women are seen as property, bound to the honor of an entire family.

Any act of autonomy, any step she takes out of her own free will, is treated as a threat to the very structures that sustain caste, class, family, and the state. When a woman defies the norms of gender, she unsettles the foundations on which this society is built.

Our bodies are seen as vessels that reproduce, not just the humans though. Good and obedient women are also part of the reproduction of the values. Their role is people-making, in other words social reproduction. The “good woman” must then become the custodian of these values.

She reproduces not just people, but the very labour that feeds capitalism, the moral codes that protect patriarchy, the ideas of womanhood and manhood, the notions of family, tribe, and even nationhood.

The family, then, becomes more than just a private space. The nursery of the ideal citizen, the obedient daughter, the dutiful son, the loyal subject. It is the site where control is taught, where gender is policed, & where violence is often justified in the name of tradition

When a woman revolts, she is not just resisting an individual oppressor, she is shaking the entire structure. Violence is the tool to discipline her time and space, to dictate where she can be, what she can do, and who she can become (whose wife, whose children she bears)

To end violence is not just about better laws or safety mechanisms or holding the perpetrator responsible. It means dismantling the very values, traditions, and norms that give this violence legitimacy. It means unmaking the structures that were never built for our freedom.

Sheetal is killed for the same mindset that says the slogan Mera Jism Meri Marzi is offensive. As long as that connection is not understood - violence against women & all those who transgress the norms cannot be eliminated.

WDF strongly condemns the direct firing by security forces at the protestors in Tirah. We demand immediate inquiry leading to holding those behind this horrific incident accountable. #TirahIsBleeding

WDF strongly condemns the attack on BNP in Quetta. We also express solidarity with the party members, and families of those who were killed in the brutal attack. This is the second such attack on BNP. Those responsible should be held accountable and a probe should be launched.

Narivaad Issue 5 is here. The editorial reflects on collective struggle, solidarity, and the need to confront patriarchy, capitalism & imperialism together. Read it here: narivaad.com/editorial/