Tooba Syed
{{Short description|Pakistani writer, feminist political organiser and gender researcher (born 1991)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Tooba Syed
| image =
| birth_name = Tooba Syed
| native_name = طوبیٰ سید
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1991|5|29}}
| birth_place = Islamabad, Pakistan
| occupation = Feminist, Researcher
| known_for = Secretary of Women Democratic Front{{cite news |title=WDF pays tribute to women who stood up against dictatorship |url=https://nation.com.pk/16-Feb-2020/wdf-pays-tribute-to-women-who-stood-up-against-dictatorship |work=The Nation |date=16 February 2020 |language=en |access-date=23 March 2021 |archive-date=25 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125203321/https://nation.com.pk/16-Feb-2020/wdf-pays-tribute-to-women-who-stood-up-against-dictatorship |url-status=live }}
}}
Tooba Syed (Urdu: طوبیٰ سید, born May 29, 1991) is a Pakistani feminist organiser, writer, and gender researcher. She is the secretary information and publishing of the feminist organization Women Democratic Front.{{cite news |title=WDF demands to repeal ban on media coverage of KP’s girls’ schools {{!}} Pakistan Today |url=https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/10/30/wdf-demands-to-repeal-ban-on-media-coverage-of-kps-girls-schools/ |work=www.pakistantoday.com.pk |date=October 30, 2018 |access-date=October 19, 2019 |archive-date=October 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012090727/https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/10/30/wdf-demands-to-repeal-ban-on-media-coverage-of-kps-girls-schools/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=اصغر |first1=ترہب |title=پشتین کی خاطر جیل جانے والے ’انقلابی‘ کون |url=https://www.bbc.com/urdu/pakistan-51310029 |work=BBC News اردو |date=31 January 2020 |language=ur |access-date=23 March 2021 |archive-date=23 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323192809/https://www.bbc.com/urdu/pakistan-51310029 |url-status=live }}
Activism
Syed is associated with left-wing politics since 2012 when she participated in arranging study circles at the university in Islamabad.{{cite news |title="Aurat Jagi": The Left Way |url=https://www.thefridaytimes.com/aurat-jagi-the-left-way/ |work=The Friday Times |date=13 March 2015 |access-date=19 October 2019 |archive-date=23 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323192836/https://www.thefridaytimes.com/aurat-jagi-the-left-way/ |url-status=live }} She worked in anti-eviction housing rights movement in Islamabad’s katchi abadis (informal settlements){{cite news |last1=T.N.S. |first1=T. N. S. |title=A questionable existence: 52 katchi abadis of Islamabad |url=http://tns.thenews.com.pk/a-questionable-existence-of-katchi-abadi-in-islamabad/#.XaqLznRrzIU |work=TNS - The News on Sunday |date=9 August 2015 |access-date=19 October 2019 |archive-date=15 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915075812/http://tns.thenews.com.pk/a-questionable-existence-of-katchi-abadi-in-islamabad/#.XaqLznRrzIU |url-status=dead }} with the All Pakistan Alliance for Katchi Abadis, protesting when the Capital Development Authority decided to demolish twelve such settlements in the capital.{{cite news |title="Aurat Jagi": The Left Way |url=https://www.thefridaytimes.com/aurat-jagi-the-left-way/ |work=The Friday Times |date=13 March 2015 |access-date=19 October 2019 |archive-date=23 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323192831/https://www.thefridaytimes.com/aurat-jagi-the-left-way/ |url-status=live }}
Syed has also organized the landless peasants movement and Okara’s women’s resistance movement.{{cite news |title=The courageous resistance of Okara’s women |url=http://sister-hood.com/tooba-syed/courageous-resistance-okaras-women/ |work=sister-hood magazine. A Fuuse production by Deeyah Khan. |date=14 June 2016 |access-date=19 October 2019 |archive-date=19 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019154948/http://sister-hood.com/tooba-syed/courageous-resistance-okaras-women/ |url-status=live }} Syed arranged political schools to deepen the understanding of methods of organizing progressive political resistance in Pakistan along with social, economic and political structures of inequality and oppression.{{cite news |title=AWP`s weekend political school ends |url=https://epaper.dawn.com/DetailImage.php?StoryImage=03_09_2018_152_004 |work=epaper.dawn.com |access-date=2019-10-19 |archive-date=2019-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019154949/https://epaper.dawn.com/DetailImage.php%3FStoryImage%3D03_09_2018_152_004 |url-status=live }} Syed also worked with the Awami Workers Party.
=Feminism=
As a feminist, Syed is interested in feminist theory, its practice, issues of women, gender and politics of South Asia.{{cite web |last1=Team |first1=Cutacut Editorial |title=#WomanCrushWednesday: All the women you need in your life |url=https://cutacut.com/2018/03/07/heres-why-you-should-be-following-these-pakistani-women/ |website=cutacut |date=7 March 2018 |access-date=19 October 2019 |archive-date=17 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417190026/https://cutacut.com/2018/03/07/heres-why-you-should-be-following-these-pakistani-women/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Call to reform political system |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/418645-call-to-reform-political-system |work=www.thenews.com.pk |date=January 14, 2019 |language=en |access-date=October 19, 2019 |archive-date=January 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114061126/https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/418645-call-to-reform-political-system |url-status=live }} Syed, supported the Me Too movement in Pakistan while describing the incident of Khaisore.{{cite news |title=Khaisor incident: The untold story |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1902970/1-khaisor-incident-untold-/ |publisher=The Express Tribune |date=February 3, 2019 |access-date=October 19, 2019 |archive-date=May 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501201952/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1902970/1-khaisor-incident-untold-/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Amjad |first1=Farah |title=Making #MeToo Work in Pakistan |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/153355/making-metoo-work-pakistan |work=The New Republic |date=20 March 2019 |access-date=19 October 2019 |archive-date=11 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011084408/https://newrepublic.com/article/153355/making-metoo-work-pakistan |url-status=live }} She supported Sheema Kermani’s Dhamal in Sehwan, after the attack (Feb, 2017) on shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar.{{cite news |title=The Good Fight |url=https://newslinemagazine.com/magazine/the-good-fight/ |work=Newsline |language=en |access-date=2019-10-19 |archive-date=2019-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019160449/https://newslinemagazine.com/magazine/the-good-fight/ |url-status=live }} Syed organized an event on International Women’s Day 2017 and invited South Asian feminist Kamla Bhasin.{{cite news |last1=Yasin |first1=Aamir |title=‘Feminism is not a western concept’ |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1319842 |work=DAWN.COM |date=12 March 2017 |language=en |access-date=19 October 2019 |archive-date=19 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019154944/https://www.dawn.com/news/1319842 |url-status=live }}
=Women Democratic Front=
Syed is the secretary of the socialist-feminist women collective and organization Women Democratic Front (WDF). The group was founded along with other left-wing workers from across country with an aim to involve the working-class women in political struggle and ensure their representation from federal to basic unit levels.{{cite web |title=Women Democratic Front to be launched on March 8 |url=https://awamiworkersparty.org/awp-women-front-to-be-launched-on-march-8-in-islamabad/ |website=Awami Workers Party, Pakistan |date=14 January 2018 |access-date=19 October 2019 |archive-date=12 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012091730/https://awamiworkersparty.org/awp-women-front-to-be-launched-on-march-8-in-islamabad/ |url-status=live }} In 2018, under the banner of WDF, Syed condemned the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government order of banning media coverage of all events in females’ schools across KP province.{{cite news |title=WDF demands to repeal ban on media coverage of KP’s girls’ schools {{!}} Pakistan Today |url=https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/10/30/wdf-demands-to-repeal-ban-on-media-coverage-of-kps-girls-schools/ |work=www.pakistantoday.com.pk |access-date=2019-10-19 |archive-date=2019-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012090727/https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/10/30/wdf-demands-to-repeal-ban-on-media-coverage-of-kps-girls-schools/ |url-status=live }} As a WDF member Syed participated in women's emancipation march 2018,{{cite news |title=Aurat Azadi March: WDF launched with a pledge to fight patriarchy, social injustice and violence |url=https://morning.pk/story/10953 |work=The Morning Mail |date=8 March 2018 |access-date=19 October 2019 |archive-date=19 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019154945/https://morning.pk/story/10953 |url-status=live }} 2019{{cite news |title=One man the hero in capital’s Aurat March |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1925874/1-one-man-hero-capitals-aurat-march/ |publisher=The Express Tribune |date=March 9, 2019 |access-date=October 19, 2019 |archive-date=March 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323192836/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1925874/1-one-man-hero-capitals-aurat-march |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Aurat Azadi March takes back the streets on Women’s Day {{!}} Pakistan Today |url=https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/03/08/aurat-azadi-march-takes-back-the-streets-on-womens-day/ |work=www.pakistantoday.com.pk |access-date=2019-10-19 |archive-date=2019-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019154943/https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/03/08/aurat-azadi-march-takes-back-the-streets-on-womens-day/ |url-status=live }} and 2020.{{cite news |last1=Sirur |first1=Simrin |title=Pakistan prepares for Aurat Azadi March but Lal Masjid clerics call it obscene |url=https://theprint.in/go-to-pakistan/pakistan-prepares-for-aurat-azadi-march-but-lal-masjid-clerics-call-it-obscene/376073/ |work=ThePrint |date=5 March 2020 |access-date=23 March 2021 |archive-date=15 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200415022408/https://theprint.in/go-to-pakistan/pakistan-prepares-for-aurat-azadi-march-but-lal-masjid-clerics-call-it-obscene/376073/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Mahmood |first1=Aisha |title=Extremist mob vandalises mural of two women painted by Aurat March organizers |url=https://www.brecorder.com/2020/03/04/576922/lal-masjid-clerics-vandalise-mural-of-two-women-painted-by-aurat-march-organizers/ |work=Business Recorder |date=4 March 2020 |access-date=23 March 2021 |archive-date=17 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817204853/https://www.brecorder.com/2020/03/04/576922/lal-masjid-clerics-vandalise-mural-of-two-women-painted-by-aurat-march-organizers/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Yasin |first1=Aamir |title=Aurat March organisers demand judicial probe into Islamabad stone pelting incident |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1539954 |work=DAWN.COM |date=11 March 2020 |language=en |access-date=23 March 2021 |archive-date=10 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310170236/https://www.dawn.com/news/1539954 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=When you have to stone us into submission |url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/576223/when-you-have-to-stone-us-into-submission/ |work=Daily Times |date=14 March 2020 |access-date=23 March 2021 |archive-date=23 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323192837/https://dailytimes.com.pk/576223/when-you-have-to-stone-us-into-submission/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Aurat March attacked with bricks, sticks in Islamabad - Pakistan Today |url=https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/03/08/religious-party-attacks-aurat-march-in-capital-several-injured/ |work=www.pakistantoday.com.pk |access-date=2021-03-23 |archive-date=2020-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113000311/https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/03/08/religious-party-attacks-aurat-march-in-capital-several-injured/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Scenes at Aurat March Islamabad |url=https://nation.com.pk/17-Mar-2020/scenes-at-aurat-march-islamabad |work=The Nation |date=17 March 2020 |language=en |access-date=23 March 2021 |archive-date=7 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207182940/https://nation.com.pk/17-Mar-2020/scenes-at-aurat-march-islamabad |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Govt must announce ‘Aurat Emergency’: WDF |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/625153-govt-must-announce-aurat-emergency-wdf |work=www.thenews.com.pk |language=en |access-date=2021-03-23 |archive-date=2021-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323192831/https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/625153-govt-must-announce-aurat-emergency-wdf |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Islamabad’s Women’s Day march was met with violent opposition from conservative agitators · Global Voices |url=https://globalvoices.org/2020/03/13/islamabads-womens-day-march-met-with-violent-opposition-from-conservative-agitators/ |work=Global Voices |date=13 March 2020 |language=en |access-date=23 March 2021 |archive-date=17 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317191747/https://globalvoices.org/2020/03/13/islamabads-womens-day-march-met-with-violent-opposition-from-conservative-agitators/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=The authorities’ slow reaction to attack on Aurat March in Islamabad by JUI-F {{!}} Dialogue {{!}} thenews.com.pk |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/628593-marching-amidst-violence |work=www.thenews.com.pk |language=en |access-date=2021-03-23 |archive-date=2020-11-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126095743/https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/628593-marching-amidst-violence |url-status=live }}{{cite news |author=Images Staff |title=Aurat March’s beautiful mural was vandalised in Islamabad. Are men really that afraid? |url=https://images.dawn.com/news/1184784 |work=Images |date=5 March 2020 |language=en |access-date=23 March 2021 |archive-date=2 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902161447/https://images.dawn.com/news/1184784 |url-status=live }}