Masaawi Haqooq (Equal Rights) by Lala Rukh

Lala Rukh was a Pakistani designer and activist; a founding member of the women's rights organization, the Women’s Action Forum in Pakistan. Rukh attended Punjab University in Lahore, Pakistan and from the University of Chicago in the United States; earning her masters degree in fine arts. 

This piece features the text: Massaawi Haqooq; which is Urdu for "equal rights".  The bright red text stands out beside the depiction of a shackled woman wearing a burqa; which according to the Met, was “not a style of dress common in Pakistan before the military dictatorship”. The text being the same bright red as the text symbolizes the suffocation of the female voice under the Pakistani government, inferring that equal rights will break the shackles worn by Pakistani women. 

According to the Met Museum, this poster acted as “a statement of resistance against the new legal codes implemented by Pakistan’s military dictatorship under General Zia ul Haq that restricted women’s access to public space”.  Because the Pakistani government controlled local printers, Lala Rukh personally designed and screen printed each poster for the Women's Action Forum; demanding equal rights for women and spreading information regarding the movements against the Pakistani dictatorship.