On Wednesday, the NGO Pukaar revealed that it had collected 630 new signatures in support of Gujarat gangrape survivor Bilkis Bano. The signatures were collected after volunteers held a small demonstration at Airoli station. They are now trying to send these as part of a new set of signatures, apart from the 8,320 sent to the Supreme Court Chief Justice yesterday.
As SabrangIndia had previously reported, as many as 8,320 signatures were collected by the joint efforts of various organisations such as All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), Bebaak Collective, Forum Against Oppression of Women, Habitat and Livelihood Welfare Association, Indian Christian for Democracy, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Justice Coalition of Religious – West India, National Solidarity Forum, One Future Collective, Pani Haq Samiti, Parcham Collective, Platform for Social Justice, Police Reform Watch, Prabodhan Yuva Sangh, Shoshit Jan Andolan, Urja Trust and the Vinayak Foundation.
“Many of these signatures were gathered in the second-class women’s compartment on the local trains of the city. A group of feminists spent hours getting on and off trains, speaking to women about the remission and asking for their opinion and their support. Another section of signatures were gathered from iconic places in Mumbai, such as the Chaityabhoomi, Shivaji Park, Carter Road Bandra, where we talked to families there to enjoy the fresh air and time together,” said the groups in a press release.
Shedding light on other venues, they said, “Some signatures were collected from protests held in the city at Dadar Station (East) as commuters racing to their trains still took the time to speak to us and register their anger at the injustice of the granting of remission. A few signatures were gathered from students by students at Universities in the city. Young women wanted to be part of this campaign by gathering signatures of their batchmates. Yet others were collected outside mosques and in bazaars and streets of the city. And some signatures were gathered in bastis and chawls by the community, women and youth groups who live and work in these neighbourhoods.”
They further said, “Most of these are the signatures of the people of Mumbai who aren’t online, who don’t have the opportunity to sign the online petitions. These are the voices that usually do not get heard but represent the sentiment of the common person on the streets and in the public spaces of the city of Mumbai.”
On Tuesday, September 6, the feminists gathered at the General Post Office to mail the collected signatures to the CJI. With the addition of 630 new signatures collected by Pukaar, the tally now stands at 8,950 and is likely to go up as new signatures are obtained. These are likely to be sent as a second batch to the CJI.
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Signatures collected in support of justice for Bilkis Bano to be sent to the Chief Justice of India