Tooba Syed

Syed is associated with left-wing politics since 2012 when she participated in arranging study circles at the university in Islamabad.^[4] She worked in anti-eviction housing rights movement in Islamabad’s katchi abadis (informal settlements)^[5] with the All Pakistan Alliance for Katchi Abadis, protesting when the Capital Development Authority decided to demolish twelve such settlements in the capital.^[6]

Syed has also organized the landless peasants movement and Okara’s women’s resistance movement.^[7] 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.^[8] Syed also worked with the Awami Workers Party.

As a feminist, Syed is interested in feminist theory, its practice, issues of women, gender and politics of South Asia.^[9][10] Syed, supported the Me Too movement in Pakistan while describing the incident of Khaisore.^[11][12] She supported Sheema Kermani’s Dhamal in Sehwan, after the attack (Feb, 2017) on shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar.^[13] Syed organized an event on International Women’s Day 2017 and invited South Asian feminist Kamla Bhasin.^[14]

Syed is the secretary of the socialist-feminist women collective and organization Women Democratic Front (WDF).^[1] 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.^[15] 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.^[16] As a WDF member Syed participated in women's emancipation march 2018,^[17] 2019^[18][19] and 2020.^{[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]}