As the world marked International Women’s Day last Sunday, the streets of Karachi witnessed a quiet but vibrant revolution. Amid the familiar urban chaos, a fleet of women navigated the city’s arteries on brand-new, free pink EV scooters — a targeted gift from the Sindh government. To the cynical observer, a pink scooter might seem like a mere performative splash of colour. But for the working woman or the university student who relies on Karachi's unforgiving public transport system, that scooter is not just a vehicle; it is the ultimate engine of autonomy. It is the freedom to move, to work, and to exist in public spaces on one’s own terms.

This recent initiative by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is not an isolated event. It is the latest chapter in a decades-long political narrative that views women's empowerment not as a fringe welfare issue, but as a core economic and social imperative. The foundation of this vision was laid by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. When she took the oath of office as the first female prime minister in the Muslim world, she fundamentally altered the imagination of what a Pakistani woman could achieve. She recognised that true empowerment required........

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