The efforts went viral in 2015 [1] and gained significant traction from women across South Asia who were encouraged to photograph themselves at dhabas and upload the pictures on social media using the hashtag #girlsatdhabas, sharing their personal narratives, reflections and stories re-examining their relationship with public space.
[2] The viral campaign led to organized gatherings and offline events, from cricket playing in the streets, bike rallies in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, and various community-building dialogues.
Sensing that this could become a larger, urgent conversation challenging the traditional role of women in public spaces, she teamed up with her friends Natasha Ansari,[5] Sabahat Zakariya, Najia Sabahat Khan, Amna Chaudhry, Mehrbano Raja, Sanayah Malik, Yusra Amjad and Sara Nisar and launched Tumblr and Facebook online pages for the growing community.
By reframing the word 'bhaichara,' Girls at Dhabas aims to claim language and the vernacular to articulate a vision of a broader feminist solidarity, radically re-imagining traditional gender relations through the lens of sisterhood and collectivism.
In Karachi, members were part of the Aurat March in their individual capacities since the organizing committee was unaffiliated with any groups Girls at Dhabas attracted criticism after the #GirlsOnBikes movement from social media users who were against the idea of women claiming public spaces.