AIDWA condemns deaths due to criminal negligence of BJP Goverment

 AIDWA is absolutely shocked at the deaths of 8 women at the hands of the health department, Chhattisgarh Government and appalled at the level of negligence that has led to nearly 50 more women being hospitalised and still in serious condition. These women were participating in a family planning camp organised at a private hospital under the National Family Planning Programme, in Takhatpur Block of Bilaspur District on 8th November 2014. All of them were under 32 years of age and had put their lives and their future at the hands of the health department, which the department so negligently snatched away.

It is absolutely deplorable that in complete disregard of the Supreme Court’s order, the surgeon performed nearly 83 operations in 5-6 hours. The scale of this incident clearly shows that these operations were not done in clean and sterilized conditions. The quality of drugs and other consumables also come into question. The motivation for such government programmes to be held in private sector hospitals, rather than in government ones is questionable.

This is not the first time that women have been at the receiving end of the government’s pro-privatisation, pro-profit, and anti-poor policies in the last few years. In 2012 nearly 7000 women had their uteruses taken out by private hospitals within a period of 30 months in order to profit from the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana package money. From 2011 to 13 more than 80 people lost their eyesight due to botched up cataract operations. This year in Raipur city, more than 30 people died of Hepatitis E outbreak, of which nearly half were pregnant women.

All these incidents reflect the utter callousness of the government of Chhattisgarh in ensuring any kind of health for its people, especially poor and rural women.

The only step that the government has taken on this incident is to announce mere Rs. 4 lakh compensation for the families of the dead and suspension of the Director Health Services, State Family Planning Nodal Officer, BMO, Takhatpur, the operating Surgeon and Bilaspur CMHO. However, such incidents illustrate the systematic failures and the person responsible for taking all the critical decisions, the Health Minister, needs to be removed and legal action taken against him for the criminal lapse.

The 3-member probe team constituted to enquire about this incident are part of the government machinery itself. We fear that like in many previous cases, the enquiry will simply be an eye wash. We demand that the investigating team should include people who are not a part of the health department in Chhattisgarh, and respected experts. All the victims who are currently in serious condition should be given the best of care and it should be ensured that no further deaths occur

Such ‘Camps’ keep getting organised daily in various parts of the state. The government gives unwritten targets to all its health functionaries. Sterilizations are often dependent on doctors coming from other blocks, district or the private sector. This leads to huge delays and long waiting period for the women. Many a time the ‘camp’ has to get cancelled because the doctor does not come or he/she comes only if certain number of cases has arrived. All this leads to extreme harassment of the women patients.

The state still focuses on the more permanent methods of family planning rather than the temporary methods and subjects especially women to such surgeries. We demand that women be provided with safe choices for contraception. The public health system has to be made to function properly, with quality so that poor people do not get exploited by the private sector.

Women activists arrested for demanding action against Tapas Pal

 Acting on the call of women's organisations to hold nationwide protests against the outrageous comments made by TMC MP Tapas Pal, women activists raised their voice outside the Parliament today, demanding his expulsion. 

The activists including AIDWA General Secretary Jagmati Sangwan, AIDWA Vice President Sudha Sundararaman, Delhi AIDWA Vice-President Maimoona Mollah, Delhi AIDWA Joint Secretary Kavita Sharma and several other activists of women's organizations. They were arrested and detained at Parliament House Police Station for the day.

They condemned the injustice embedded in their arrest , when a law breaker like Tapas Pal  was being allowed to sit in the parliament. 

A delegation of MPs comprising of P.K. Sreemathi(Lok Sabha),  T.N.Seema, Rajya Sabha and Jharna Das Baidya (Rajya Sabha)  also visited the detained activists in the police station demanding that they be released at the earliest. 

Protest against killing of Mohsin Shaikh by Hindu communal forces

A protest was organized by DYFI-SFI-AIDWA (Democratic Youth Federation of India-Students’ Federation of India- All India Democratic Women’s Association), AISF (All India Secular Forum), Communalism Combat, Minorities Federation, Jan Sanskriti Manch and NAPM (National Alliance for People’s Movement) at Azad Maidan on June 5, 2014 against the gruesome killing of the innocent, visibly Muslim 28 year old IT professional, Shaikh Mohsin Sadiq, by a group of people allegedly belonging to the radical Hindu outfit called Hindu Rashtra Sena.

 

The protest witnessed around 70 activists, journalists, academics, lawyers etc along with a strong media presence. The protestors included a diverse group of men and women- Hindus, Muslims and a few Sikhs.
 

Though police permission had been denied, the groups concerned went ahead with the protest, given that the right to peacefully protest is constitutionally guaranteed to every citizen.

The idea behind the protest was to see the youth’s murder in the context of the threat that is increasingly being posed to the secular spirit of the nation. One cannot help but see the murder of the youth as a component of the larger hate propaganda of the communal forces in the country.

Though it initially appeared that the police may arrest the protestors, no such thing happened and the protest was peacefully carried out. In that sense then, the protest also became a comment on the increasingly shrinking space and freedom to protest and the ways in which the State seems to be curbing the democratic ethos that India stands for.

AIDWA ON GANG-RAPE OF ADIVASI GIRL IN BIRBHUM, WEST BENGAL

It is shocking that not a day passes in West Bengal without one or the other incident of violence against women. The latest incident has taken place in Labhpur, Birbhum on 21st January , when a 20 year-old adivasi girl from the village of Rajrampur was abducted and gang-raped by 12 persons from the same village as she had dared to have a relationship with a non-tribal boy. This was done after a kangaroo-court called apparently by some village elders sought to extract a fine of Rs.50,000 from the girl’s family for this supposed offence, and the family pleaded their inability to pay the same. The couple were reportedly brought before the kangaroo-court bound hand and foot and even after the boy pleaded that he wanted to marry the girl, the perpetrators ignored him and gave the verdict for the girl to be raped as a punishment by those present. She was dragged to an adjoining room and attacked by a number of persons from her own village, and left severely injured in front of her house. The next day she went with her mother and lodged an FIR at Labhpur Thana, after which she was admitted to the PHC and then shifted to Siuri District Hospital. The police have so far arrested 11 persons on the basis of the FIR. An AIDWA led a deputation to the SP and several protest rallies have been conducted against the growing atmosphere of insecurity, especially for women in West Bengal.
Athough some arrests have been made in this particular case, it is necessary that the administration makes immediate arrangements for the full security of the survivor and her family. All the perpetrators and instigators must be arrested and a proper investigation conducted. It is increasingly the case in several districts of West Bengal including Birbhum that there is a growing atmosphere of violence has been increasing, with gangs of armed anti-socials taking the law in their own hands. This is because many of them enjoy the political patronage of the ruling party, as a result of which the police and the administration turn a blind eye to them. Consequently, lawlessness has been increasing at all levels, since there is now a feeling that such crimes can go unpunished. AIDWA expresses its grave concern about the situation, and stands by all those who are victims of the growing crimes against women in the state.

AIDWA Statement in case of harassment of law intern by former Supreme Court Judge

AIDWA has always fought for the rights of women sexually harassed at workplace, however highly-placed the perpetrator may be. In the case of a law intern’s alleged harassment by Justice A.K.Ganguly, a retired Supreme Court judge, a three- judge panel of the Supreme Court was constituted to enquire into the matter. On 5.12.2013,this committee made public the operative part of its report in which it has said that ‘the statement of the law intern, both written and oral, prima facie discloses an act of unwelcome behaviour (unwelcome verbal/non-verbal conduct of sexual nature) by Justice Ganguly’. In the light of this finding of a three-member panel of the Supreme Court itself, AIDWA strongly feels that Justice Ganguly must step down from the public office he holds at present as the Chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission. AIDWA is also of the opinion that in the interest of justice, the whole truth in this matter must come out through due legal process to be pursued by the appropriate institutions. AIDWA is committed to stand by any appropriate legal action the complainant may seek for this purpose. AIDWA further demands that the scope of the Sexual Harassment Committee set up by the Supreme Court be enhanced to include offences by those in the Supreme Court perpetrated outside Supreme Court Premises. AIDWA also demands immediate notification of the recently-passed Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act.

Sudden Demise of Comrade Shyamali Gupta

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its deep grief at the passing away of Shyamali Gupta, member of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the All India Democratic Women’s Association till recently.  Shyamali Gupta  fell ill at the AIDWA All India Conference held in Bodh Gaya and died after she returned to Kolkata.  She was 68 years old.

 

Shyamali Gupta joined the Communist Party in 1963 after being active in the student movement.  She played an important role in the Bengal Provincial Students Federation.

 

After a stint as a college teacher, Shyamali Gupta began work in the women’s movement in the 1970s.  She became the key organizer of the Ganatantrik Mahila Samiti. She was elected as its General Secretary in 1983 and served in that capacity till 1996. 

 

Shyamali Gupta became the All India General Secretary of the AIDWA in 1990 and played a major role in the development of the women’s movement at the national level.  She  was elected as the President of the AIDWA in 2010, a post she held till the eve of her death. 

 

Shyamali Gupta was a dedicated Communist leader.  She became a member of the West Bengal State Committee in 1985 and was a member of the State Secretariat from 2010. She was elected to the Central Committee of the CPI(M) in 2002. 

 

As a women Communist leader, Shyamali Gupta made a valuable contribution to the development of the democratic women’s movement.  She served the Communist Party with devotion and sincerity for five decades.  Her death is a big loss for the Party and the women’s movement.

 

The Polit Bureau conveys its heartfelt condolences to her son and other family members. 

AIDWA 10th National Conference

 

AIDWA's 10th National Conference being held in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, from 22nd to 25th November, 2013 got off to a rousing start with flag hoisting by AIDWA's national president Shyamali Gupta and homage to martyrs who sacrificed their lives for women's  emancipation and social justice. Com. Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, chairperson of the reception committee and veteran left leader, welcomed around the 850 delegates from all over the country gathered here to attend the conference. Com Manik Sarkar chief minister of Tripura, who was to deliver the inaugural address, could not make it to the conference due to his illness. He conveyed his message and greetings through his representative, Shri Jitendra Choudhary, Minister of Industries, Government of Tripura, who expressed concern over the anti-people and pro-rich disastrous economic policies of the present Congress regime.  The industry minister in his address on behalf of chief minister of Tripura, while focusing upon the developmental indices in the state which are way above the national average, highlighted the achievements of the Left Front government in Tripura in the field of total literacy, health policies, ICDS enrolment, position of women, self help groups, decentralisation of administration, and strengthening of the democratic rights of the all sections of society. Tripura stands first in the country with 94.64% literates, 98% enrolment of children in Anganwadi centres and highest electoral participation of 94% in the last assembly elections with women electorate surpassing the male voters by 2%.

The inaugural session featured a special session titled "Women against Violence: Fighting for Justice, Resisting Violence, Claiming Rights" wherein women from across the country who have been bravely fighting the battle against violence, discrimination and social injustice in various forms which includes domestic and political violence, sexual assault, fight for land rights, fight against caste and communal discrimination and against terrorism.

The women who spoke included representative of the Vachathi tribal mass rape survivor from Tamil Nadu, Prandhayi, who stood up against her sexual assault by forest and police officials for 19 long years and finally succeeded in getting justice. Sarita (name changed), a dalit student from Hissar district in Haryana, who was gangraped by upper class people of village Dabra and whose father unable to bear the shame and humiliation committed suicide, braved all odds in her struggle to get the accused convicted. Manwara bibi from Bardhaman disrict of West Bengal foiled the attempt of the Trinamool goons to seize the Panchayat elections by successfully contesting the elections in spite of the brutal killing of her husband and winning 83% of the votes. Bihar's Sushila Devi has been fighting a fierce struggle since 1992 for getting 8 acres of common village land out of the clutches of the landlord and former a IAS officer. Under her leadership, women have fought against police atrocities in which Sushila herself sustained physical injuries and more than 8 cases are still pending against her. Shamima Kausar, mother, and Musarrat, sister of Ishrat jahan who was killed in a fake encounter by Gujarat police in 2004, have fought a prolonged legal battle to clear her daughter's name from the stigma of being branded a 'terrorist' and to ensure justice for Ishrat through punishment for her killers. The struggle and determination of Arunima Sinha to assert her identity as a national volleyball player from UP and her fight against the demeaning attitude of the state towards her achievements and dignity inspired the gathering as she shared her story of scaling the highest peak with an amputated leg, becoming the first woman in the world to achieve this historic feat.

Ex-MP and AIDWA Patron Brinda Karat in her speech stressed that violence is the most important issue which has to be also seen in its various dimensions. She put forth demands, including a code of conduct for elected MPs and MLAs who should be named and shamed whenever they use objectionable language against women. She also reaffirmed the resolve to fight political violence, caste and class inequalities and the need to fight capitalist structures which force women into situations that make them more and more vulnerable. She ended by recalling the historic speech made by revolutionary communist leader Dolores Ibarruri at the Battle of Madrid where she challenged the forces of fascism by the raising the slogan of "No Pasaran" which means "they shall not pass".

Representatives of various national women's organisations, including Leila Passah of the YWCA and Vimal Thorat of AIDMAM, extended their greetings to AIDWA. The session concluded with Sudha Sundararaman, general secretary, placing the resolution on communalism.

Report of AIDWA visit to Muzaffarnagar

A delegation of AIDWA [comprising Sehba Farooqui (Gen Secretary, Delhi), Madhu Garg (President, UP), Seema Rana (Secretary, Lucknow), Asha Sharma (Working President, Delhi), Anjana Jha (Treasurer, Delhi) and Maimoona Mollah (Vice President, Delhi)], visited some of the camps set up for the riot affected people in Muzaffarnagar on October 5, 2013. The delegation met a large number of violence affected women in the camps.

The delegation first went to Jogiakhera, a village in Tehsil Budhana. Most of the affected people here are from village Fugana, one of the worst affected villages. Fugana is a village in this tehsil with a population of about 20-25 thousand. Muslim population there is about 3500. The attack happened on the morning of September 8. There are 5 reported cases of rape (all gang-rape) from this area – all of Muslim women.

The delegation then went to another village, Loyi, where there is a camp housing about 3700 people from many villages - Hisad, Lakh, Bahavdi, Kharad, Fugana, Hasanpur, etc. 80% of the people in this camp are from Fugana.

The delegation also heard the background in which the incidents happened which confirmed many of the details that have already been reported in the media. This report mainly focuses on the impact on women in the violence affected areas.

About Muzaffarnagar
Muzaffarnagar has often been in the news for the wrong reasons primarily because of its dismal record with regard to women's status. Sex ratio is an abysmal 889 females per 1000 males. Child sex ratio is even more pathetic: 863/1000. Female literacy is only 58.69 as against the average literacy rate of 69.12. Most girls are not able to pursue their studies beyond matriculation; only the very fortunate ones are able to go to college.

Muzaffarnagar is an area where women have been targets of sexual harassment (some reported but most of these incidents largely unreported). Girls of both communities suffer sexual harassment and the perpetrators of the crime also are from both communities. Nor is it the case that the perpetrator and the victim need necessarily belong to different communities. But this reality has been deliberately covered up in the recent build up to the violence.

Muzaffarnagar district also has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of “honour” killings in UP, an average of between one to two killings a month. The ‘khap’ panchayats have especially been active in cases of honour killing and women of both communities have been targets of violence in different ways.

Some of the currently affected villages- Fugana for example which is the centre of communal killing and rape, have witnessed such honour killings in the past. It was in the same village- where rapes of Muslim women in this communal attack have occurred- that had seen the stripping and killing of a young Hindu girl by her community in 2006, a victim of “honour” killing. The point here is that the deeply patriarchal and anti women concept of so-called honour has made victims of women of both communities.

Today, young girls of both communities are greatly affected – they fear even going to school or college.

It is a measure of the criminal and cynical planning of the communal forces that they deliberately chose an issue of so-called honour in an area known for “honour” killings to incite communal hatred and organized a communal carnage in the name of bahu-beti bachao ostensibly to curb sexual harassment in the area. One incident was given a communal colour by the BJP/RSS which is actively working in the area to polarise people on communal lines. The result was the worst incident of communal violence the area has ever seen, in which it was the Muslim minority community which suffered the worst violence, and muslim women were sexually assaulted.

Sexual Assault
• Regarding cases of sexual assault: there were 5 cases of rape reported to the delegation – in 4 cases FIRs have been registered but no statements have been recorded under Sec 164 which is mandatory for the filing of a chargesheet. In two of these cases no MLC was done. So far not a single person has been arrested, even though these are named reports.
• The delegation was told that there have been many more cases of sexual assault and molestation but women and especially young girls who were the victims are too shocked to speak.

The delegation met almost all the victims who have registered cases of rape.

Cases of Sexual Assault (all the names have been changed)
1. Saba w/o Saleem: Saba’s husband is a hawker who sells cloth. On the 8th morning, the attackers (Badlu, Nilu and Amardip) came with knives, held Saba and all three of them raped her and killed one of her brothers-in-law with a knife. Then, while they went to bring petrol to burn the house, Saba and family escaped and came to Jogiakhera.
2. Sameena: Around 10 am Rupesh, Ramvir and Bhim came, raped her and burnt her house. The assaulters threw out her 2y old daughter who was injured in the process.
3. Qudsia: Around 2 pm, five boys, all her neighbours came – Sunil (s/o Sadhu), Devender (s/o Harpal), and Ramesh (s/o Virma), Ramkumar (s/o Patvari) and Joginder (s/o Pradhan). Ramesh tore her clothes, Sunil, Devinder and Ramkumar raped her. Qudsia tried to run but they pulled her back. When she resisted they banged her head against the wall which incapacitated Qudsia. Around 4 pm the force came, rescued her and brought her to Loyi village.
4. Farida w/o Salman: Farida was making rotis when they came at 2 pm. When she tried to run they pulled her back by her plait. Farida then hid in the pen, but the attckers saw that and almost throttled her. They were 5 boys – Sachin, Vedpal, Shani, Ajit and Yogesh. Sachin and Vedpal broke her shalwar strap and raped her. Before the others could come forward, Farida ran towards the jungle and came to the Madrasa in village Loyi.
5. Salma w/o Nasir from Fugana. 6 people raped her. She is currently recuperating in the hospital.
6. Sabeena from Fugana: Sabeena narrated the plight of her family. When the rioters came they were shocked as they had no inkling of an impending attack. She said that she and both her daughters aged 16 and 22 were molested and told to stay back, but Sabeena’s family did not stop. The attackers burnt the house; Sabeena and family ran and reached Jogiakhera through the jungle route. Saleema from Khera Mastan said though they were not attacked but they ran out of fear.

The rape survivors we met told the delegation that they recognised and identified the rapists, knew their names and had courageously registered FIRs against them. Yet none have been arrested, mocking their trauma and pain.

Missing Children
There have been many cases of parents losing their grip on the children who were running with them. The children have since gone missing and so far there are no efforts by the administration to trace them:
• Mohammad Altaf is a hawker; he sells cloth. While he was running after the riots broke out, he lost his grip on his 5-year daughter who fell down and is now missing.
• Naeem’s 5-month child Rehana was in his arms, but while running she fell down. The child is missing.

Homelessness
• People are now scared to go home. The added trauma for women is that their assaulters were people from their own village. There is thus a feeling of terror and insecurity which is preventing them from going back to their village homes.
• Unable to go back home, these families living in camps are now homeless. Those who are not in the camps and are living with other families as in Jogiakhera, there is added trauma of adjusting with other families while waiting for rehabilitation.

Health Issues
• Considering the fact that the riot affected people are in deep trauma, there are no counselling centres for them.
• The victims including pregnant women and victims of sexual assault are having to go to Shamli District hospital for treatment.
• Living in open tents for long has its own health hazards and towards that the administration has so far paid no attention.

The Camps
• Most of the camps have been set up and managed and taken care of by concerned citizens. UP government ought to step in and provide relief.
• The insecurity continues - there is palpable tension in the area and there seems to be no effort from the administration towards easing of tension.
• We got a feedback from camp managers that they would require tarpaulin to cover the tents. Therefore, AIDWA has provided tarpaulin to about 65 such tents.

Planned Attacks
• The attacks were pre-planned. BJP/RSS captured the mahapanchayat, made communal speeches, and orchestrated communal conflagration. Most of the attacks are reported to have started in the morning on the same day - Sept 8th 2013.
• The people attacked are poor and backward caste Muslims – Sheikh, badhai, lohaar, dhobi, julaaha, nilgarh (rangrez), qureshi, teli... ‘Marshal Muslims’ – upper caste Muslims – Mula Jats, Rajputs, Tyagis were not in the main, the targets. The victims were working in the fields/ enterprises of the attackers. This was probably one way of showing the workers their place as it were; to keep them subdued.
• Only in one area, Joli there were casualties from both communities. In the rest of the places, it was one-sided - Muslims were attacked.

Role of Administration and the Ground Reality
• The administration was unresponsive. There was failure / inordinate delay in their action which caused both human and material casualties.
• It was also reported to the delegation that whoever among the police officers worked impartially to uphold the rule of law, was transferred.
• Though some of the BJP leaders including their MLA have been arrested, many of the rioters are still not arrested adding to the fear psychosis of the victims.
• Those who killed Gaurav and his brother also have not been arrested so far.

Urgent Steps Required
• Expedite all cases of rape, murder and arson.
º Arrest all those guilty of communal attacks and violence.
º Take urgent action on all the cases of rape. Arrest all those named by the women. Record victims’ statements under Section 164.
º Arrest killers of Gaurav and his brother.
• Send a team of women counsellors from trained agencies and representatives of women’s organisations to the camps and affected areas to meet the victims who can bring them out of the trauma they are in. The counsellors would also be able to instil confidence in the women to speak up about the violence meted out to them during the riots.
• There still is palpable tension in the area.
º To ease the atmosphere the government of UP should initiate concrete confidence building measures immediately.
º People are scared to go back to their homes. The government therefore should help create a conducive environment for people to return.
• UP Government should step up relief measures and continue this until the affected people are rehabilitated.
• UP Government should chalk out a rehabilitation plan for the victims of the communal violence and implement it immediately.
• Since most of those attacked are poor Muslims, there is an urgency to provide the means of livelihood to them.
• The UP government should reinstate those officers who were abruptly transferred because of their impartial approach.

Follow up
To follow up on the relief and rehabilitation of the victims of violence and the progress on the many cases of sexual assault, the delegation plans to meet the Chief Minister of UP.

Azra's Case
Azra Khatoon is a nine-year-old girl from Baori village in UP’s Shamli district adjoining Muzaffarnagar. Her family comprises seven sisters and three brothers.
Azra’s family was among those attacked during the September 8 riots in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining Shamli. Her seven-year-old cousin sister, paternal grandmother, and uncle (father’s brother) were killed in the riot. Her mother and five-year-old sister were injured after they were shot at. They were being treated at Shamli government hospital and later at Muzaffarnagar District Hospital.
Azra’s suffered a deep cut on her stomach and more grievous and damaging injury on her right hand after she was slashed by a sickle.
Accompanied by her father and maternal grandmother, she is currently being treated at the Trauma Centre at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, after being referred from the Muzaffarnagar District Hospital.
Luckily, there was no organ damage and her wound on the stomach is healing. But, doctors are worried that she may not be able to move her right hand (wrist onwards) ever again.
The AIIMS Trauma Centre has promised to bear the cost of her treatment at the hospital. The Uttar Pradesh government, too, had come forward to help Azra’s family.
Little Azra is currently in a lot of pain and unable to speak much but has expressed the desire to study further.
AIDWA, Delhi, is assisting with the coordination of her current treatment and further rehabilitation. In Baori, Azra was studying in Class IV at the local government school. The family has lost their entire belongings and will urgently require financial assistance, particularly for her care.

AIDWA demands special legislation to address honour crimes

AIDWA condemns the heinous murder of a young couple in Rohtak for having married of their own choice. It demands speedy investigation and stringent punishment of the guilty.
The AIDWA also demands expedition of implementation of special legislation to address honour crimes.

We enclose herewith the Press Statement of Haryana state unit of AIDWA in this regard.


All India Democratic Womens’ Association (AIDWA) has expressed deep shock and anguish over a barbaric case of honour killing in village Garnawathi of Rohtak district. In a press release issued by Haryana state committee of Janawadi Mahila Samiti Wednesday’s heinous crime is a shame on the face of civil society.

The level of cruelty displayed in this shameful crime has stirred the conscience of all right thinking individuals. According to AIDWA state secretary Savita such barbaric crimes continue unabated and reminding of medieval period. Haryana alone has recorded dozens of honour killing incidents but nothing has been done to curb such crimes against humanity.
It is ironical that the state government and mainstream politics continue to be silent spectators due to which no strong signal goes to the perpetrators of such crimes. AIDWA had long been striving for enactment of separate legislation against honour killings. A memorandum with over a lakh signature was submitted to the union Law minister few months back and draft legislation too was submitted with the ministry. But the same was not be placed before parliaments owing to opposition by Haryana government and other regressive forces like khaps who are active in North Western region.

AIDWA demands immediate enactment of this law. It appeals all sections of people to raise their voice against such barbarity and launch united campaign. AIDWA also strongly exhorts the elders to ponder over the concept of family honour and raise questions as to what honour was being saved by killing our own children.
AIDWA demands immediate arrest of all accused in Wednesday’s episode and award exemplary punishment.

AIDWA demands speedy investigation into the reported rape charges against godman Asaram.

AIDWA expresses deep shock and outrage over the rape of a minor reported in the newspapers on 22nd August 2013, allegedly by the self styled godman Asaram Bapu. The organisation demands a swift and fair investigation of this serious crime. According to the news reports, the minor was raped and sexually assaulted inside the premises of Baba Asaram Bapu’s Ashram. It has also been reported that the Baba’s aides were involved in and were participants in the assault. There are also reports that Asaram Bapu runs a gurukul for women in Madhya Pradesh. AIDWA further demands a thorough investigation into the ashrams and gurukuls run by the Baba's trust.

This is not the first time that criminal charges have been framed against the so called spiritual guru. Earlier, he had been charged with attempt to murder, land grab cases etc. Last year, the Baba had made derogatory and insensitive remarks about the 23 year old rape victim of the December 16th Delhi rape case. Even after coming under severe criticism from women's activists and organisations, no serious action was taken against the Asaram Bapu.

AIDWA therefore demands that the government take immediate action in the case and arrest the culprits. It is also the responsibility of the state to ensure that the Baba and his aides are not able to misuse their power and clout to influence a fair enquiry.

AIDWA PAYS HOMAGE TO DR. VINA MAZUMDAR.

 

From India News Network (INN)

New Delhi, May 30: AIDWA deeply mourns the passing away of Dr. Vina Mazumdar, our beloved Vinadi on May 30th, 2013.Vinadi was a symbol of much that was of value and worthy of emulation in the generation to which she belonged. A generation of many ‘firsts’ for women like her – a generation born in colonial India that lived through the halcyon days of the freedom movement and grew to adulthood in free India; a generation that breathed and lived on the words and deeds of Rabindranath Tagore, the revolutionaries of Bengal and Punjab, Mahatma Gandhi, dedicated teachers and family elders who had newly imbibed the joys of education and enlightenment.  It was a generation fired with the desire to serve a newly independent nation using all the tools that a modern education could provide.  Above all, Vinadi, represented the first generation of Indian women who had not only accessed the hitherto forbidden delights of all that a first class education in an Indian metropolis and a foreign university could provide, but also enjoyed the freedom to enter into a profession, determined to make a difference and leave a mark.

Very soon, she became an educationist who trained young minds to think and question wherever she went.  She herself always remained open to new sources of knowledge, always aware of what she did not know but also unflinching in her clear-headed commitment to a socialist vision of emancipation.  In 1971, she was appointed Member Secretary of the Committee to study the Status of Women in India set up by the Government.  This was another turning point in her eventful life.  The work of the Committee that went around the country listening to women in villages, cities in towns who belonged to every strata and class and what they heard brought home the unequal status of the mass of Indian women for whom little had changed and for whom Independence was a word that mocked their own reality.  Always a crusader for social change, Vinadi focused on the struggle for womens’ equality once the work of the Commission had been completed. As she herself has said, she became, more than ever ‘activist and critic, academic and mobiliser, publicist and propogandist’. Along with colleagues like Lotika Sarkar, she founded the Center for Women’s Development Studies and dedicated the rest of her life to providing a unique bridge between womens’ movements, of which she was an important participant, and womens’ studies, of which she was a pioneer.

AIDWA is proud of the close relationship we shared with Vinadi.  She inaugurated the first and founding conference of the organization in l981 in Madras and remained a source of inspiration, advice and unbounding love and affection.

Today we salute the memory of a great woman, a great academic, a great path breaker and a great comrade without whom the womens movement will be much the poorer.  A line from Rabindranath Tagore was very dear to her – “The wonder of it all makes me sing”.  A life like Vinadi’s has brought much wondrous music into the lives of innumerable women in so many corners of our country.

AIDWA mourns her passing and offers heartfelt condolences to all her children and grandchildren, so many of whom are treading the paths down which she was among the first to venture.

AIDWA PRESS RELEASE ON THE CRIMINAL LAW AMENDMENT BILL, 2013

AIDWA notes with disappointment that the Criminal Law Amendment Bill, 2013 passed by the UPA Government in the Lok Sabha today to amend the rape laws has not taken into consideration the objections and issues that have been repeatedly raised by AIDWA and other women's organizations. We reiterate that the opportunity to provide comprehensive justice for women who have been subjected to sexual violence should not be lost, and call for their inclusion even at this stage. Some of the objections to the Bill are as under:

• Despite comprehensive suggestions made by the Verma Committee in the laws relating to sexual assaults the bill does not change patriarchal and anti-women provisions like Sections 354 and S509 of the archaic Indian Penal Code relating to molestation and “eve teasing” .These only punish assaults and gestures which “outrage the modesty of a woman” and are demeaning and insulting to woman.

• Further, the Bill retains the marital rape exception and states that sexual intercourse or sexual acts with a wife is not rape. This is against the provisions of the Indian Constitution which considers women as equal human beings who have a right to live with dignity and be free from violence within and outside marriage. The government is however not willing to recognize and punish sexual violence within the marriage. The Verma Committee report had pointed out that this exception “stems from an outdated notion of marriage which regarded wives as no more than the property of their husbands….”.

• Apart from this, while the proposed Government Bill of 2010 had added that if rape is committed by a person in a position of social, economic and political dominance this would be considered an aggravated form of offence, the present Bill completely dilutes this suggestion and removes the words “social, economic and political” from Clause (k) under Section 376(2) of the IPC. This clause was meant to address rape which is often committed with impunity by those in positions of power on women from the most vulnerable sections of our society. Rapes by higher caste men on Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe women should be considered an aggravated form of rape.

• AIDWA and other national women’s organisations had pointed out that young boys who are in a consensual relationship with a young girl who may be between 16 and 18 years of age must be protected from the criminal consequences of statutory rape. The social reality is that there are many instances of consensual sexual activity between girls who may be between the ages of 16 and 18 and boys who may be the same age or slightly older and it would lead to injustice if these young boys were prosecuted for rape. It had therefore suggested that such consensual activity should be exempted from the purview of statutory rape provided the accused person was not more than five years older. However, this suggestion has not been inserted in the law.

Apart from this AIDWA had demanded that command responsibility must be recognized as recommended in the Verma Committee Report and made other suggestions regarding the non inclusion of death penalty in the Bill and other procedural changes which have not been inserted. AIDWA therefore demands that these changes should be incorporated in the final Act and the Bill passed in the current session of parliament to ensure substantial justice for women.

AIDWA welcomes the verdict of the Supreme Court in the Suryanelli case.

AIDWA welcomes the verdict of the Supreme Court in the Suryanelli case. The Kerala State unit of AIDWA has been involved with the case from the very beginning. Unfortunately, the UDF Govt. behaved in a rather partisan manner which was responsible for the fact that of the 40 accused, only one was sentenced. When the case came before the Supreme Court, the State unit of AIDWA got itself impleaded and its lawyers, VK Biju and V Giri, were responsible for bringing the case, that had been languishing for 8 years, to the attention of the CJI, who has ordered a speedy hearing of the SLP by the special bench constituted in the aftermath of the Delhi gang-rape case.

This horrendous incident of gang rape over 42 days of a young girl occurred 17 years ago, in 1995. She was duped and sold by a friend, and was then taken to several places in Kerala and Tamil Nadu where she was repeatedly abused. The UDF Govt. of the day did not prosecute the case seriously, perhaps because a prominent Congress leader was one of those named by the victim. When the LDF Govt. assumed power in 1996, it constituted a special court, the first of its kind, to try the case. In 2000, this trial court sentenced 34 of the accused to punishment ranging from 4 to 13 years in detention. However, the UDF came to power after this and the High Court not only acquitted all but one of them, but also passed very objectionable comments about the victim and insisted that she had participated in consensual sex because she was 3 months over the age of 16. Now, finally, the special bench to which the SC had referred the case has found the grounds on which HC acquitted the accused shocking. The bail of the accused has been cancelled and the case has been referred back to the High Court for fresh hearing within 6 months. 

The LDF Govt. had given the victim a Govt. job but she and her family were continuously harassed because they filed an appeal in the Supreme Court. She was suspended from her job by the UDF Govt. in a vindictive act and re-instated only when the AIDWA unit and others raised a hue and cry. For 17 years, she and her family have been living a life of isolation and humiliation.

The Kerala State President of AIDWA, TN Seema, MP, visited Suryanelli after the SC decision and met the victim and her family, who expressed their appreciation of AIDWA’s efforts. They were assured that AIDWA would fight the case till justice was done and until the big fish among the accused, like Congress leader PJ Kurien, are convicted.

AIDWA STRONGLY CONDEMNS ARBITRARY INCREASE IN RAIL FARES

AIDWA strongly condemns the totally unnecessary and arbitrary increase in rail fares by the UPA Government on Jan 13th, 2013, which will come into force from the midnight of Jan 21-22nd. The sharp increase in second class fares by 15-40%, and sleeper fares by 13-34% will further burden the ordinary people, who are already suffering from the steep increase in the prices of all other essential commodities. A large section of workers, especially women in the unorganized sector, who commute daily by suburban trains will be severely affected by the hike.

This unreasonable increase occurs just a few weeks before the annual rail budget, thereby exposing the callousness of the Government towards maintaining democratic norms of decision-making.
 

This additional assault on the people must be pushed back. AIDWA calls for widespread protests demanding a roll-back in the fares for all the classes used by the common people, and urges all its units to participate in the demonstrations against the increase in rail fares.