Addressing a press conference here, Brinda Karat, politburo member, Communist Party of India (Marxist), who was part of the team, along with AIDWA secretary Maryam Dhawale and president P K Sreemathi, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly said that the people of the country stand with Manipur. “However, the bitter truth is that state and Union government no longer stand with Manipur. It is unbelievable that a state of India is geographically and emotionally divided,” she said.

Karat said, “I wonder who is briefing PM Modi on the situation in Manipur which he is saying that peace is returning to the state. There can be no peace until those driven out of Imphal return to it. There can be no peace until people fleeing tribal areas return to their homes. It’s a war zone and PM Modi misled the people about situation in Manipur,” she said.

The CPI(M) leader said everywhere Aadhar cards were being checked “and if you belong to other community, there is persistent danger of losing your life.”

“We saw thousands of displaced children in relief camps who lost their entire year just because they could not sit for their exams. The communities which were already exploited have been pushed to the margins by this government and its policies,” she added.

According to the team that visited Manipur, the  “biggest grief” of the people remains non-delivery of justice even after 100 days.

“The process of justice has not moved an inch. The justice to victims of sexual violence is still denied. There would be no closure for them. Yesterday (August 15), Biren Singh said that people should move on by forgetting and forgiving. I want to ask him if he is saying that rape victims should forget about violation of their bodies,” Karat said.

The AIDWA team said people told them that crimes were perpetrated to them due to their ethnicity, identity and religion. “If that can happen there, it can happen in any corner of the country. We observed that the biggest barrier to justice is CM Biren Singh himself. The insensitivity of the administration is a matter of pride for him because he has the backing of the Modi government,” she added.

Referring to Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement in Parliament, saying that Biren Singh cannot be removed because he is “cooperating” with the Centre, Karat said, “I wish to ask who is he cooperating with? With the Constitution of India? With Victims?”

Karat added that the turmoil had decimated the local economy where women were employed in local handloom industries. “The poor women of both communities told us that the situation is so dire that they are eating once a day because there are no food grains supply. They cannot get any loan because local money lenders have run out of cash” she said.

Dhawale said the delegation visited Churachandpur, which is now called ‘Lamka’ by the locals. She said there were around 250 relief camps sheltering more than 15,000 people.

“It was heart-rending to meet the young girl and the older woman whose ordeal shocked the entire country. These women were handed over to the marauding mobs by the police. The desperation of the young girl’s teenage brother and father to save her could be felt when it was described to us. The brother clung tightly to his sister. Somehow, both the victims reached a relief camp,” she added.

Dhawale said the young girl told them that she could not tell her mother of what had happened to her as she was already suffering because of the deaths of her son and husband. “The girl kept her terrible ordeal buried within her for days together. The mother learnt of it only after the video surfaced. It broke her heart,” said Dhawale.

A report released after the visit of the AIDWA team quoted the mother as saying, “I cannot express my grief in words. No amount of money can compensate our loss. We want help to fight this government and want a separate administration for ourselves. I want to see the dead bodies of my son and husband. Please help me to see them”.

According to her, the district collector told them that the bodies (husband and son) were lying in the morgue in Imphal as the morgue in Bishnupur was full beyond its capacity. It has a capacity of 18 and actually 39 bodies were kept there.

The older woman said, “We do not want any woman from any community to go through what we have suffered. My son was living in the hostel of a college. I had not seen him since March. Now I will never see him again. We want this to get over as soon as possible.”

Putting forth demands, P K Sreemathi said that Biren Singh must be removed to ensure the process of justice begins. “We demand that a proper assessment of violence should take place to ensure rehabilitation. Additionally, all culprits of rape, murder, gang-rape and violence must be arrested. All inhabitants should be given 10 kg of ration under public distribution system until economic stability returns to state,” she added.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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The incident took place on May 4, 2023, and involved women being paraded naked, sexually assaulted and gang-raped by a mob in Manipur. The video of this incident surfaced on social media on May 19. 

On July 20, it was reported that the NCW had been sent a complaint on the matter on June 12, but the complainants never received a response or an acknowledgement. As per media reports, the complaint had been filed by two Manipuri women and a Manipur tribal association headquartered abroad. Reportedly, the complainants had spoken to the survivors and then emailed NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma.

Notably, after the video of the heinous crime had gone viral and invited outrage from across the country, the NCW had tweeted stating that it is taking suo moto cognizance of the matter and that the DGP Manipur has been asked to promptly take appropriate action.

What did the letter entail?

The letter made an urgent appeal to the NCW to “urgently assess the disproportionate victimization of Kuki-Zomi indigenous tribal women through brutal and inhumane acts of sexual violence, including rape, kidnapping, public lynching, immolation and murder”. 

“Witness accounts reveal the most harrowing and distressing details, including the incrimination of Meitei women vigilantes as enablers and perpetrators of gender-based violence. Victims and survivors allege that Meitei women vigilantes have actively participated in the attacks and assaults on Kuki-Zomi women and children,” the complaint alleged.

“Several Kuki-Zomi women have been forced to flee for their lives during advanced stages of pregnancy or while recuperating from C-section surgeries. Some have given birth in ad hoc refugee camps…” it added.

Newslaundry reported that the complaint alleged that a 15-year-old girl had been kidnapped and a medical examination report “confirmed assault and rape”.

The complaint said these examples underlined the “serious gravity of gender-based violence, appalling levels of women’s’ rights violations, and continued threats to the physical safety and psychological well-being of Kuki-Zomi women”.

Response of the NCW to the reports

Defending the ‘inaction’ of the NCW, Rekha Sharma said that it had approached the Manipur government thrice after receiving the complaint on June 12.

“There were many complaints and that too from people outside India and outside Manipur,” NCW chief Rekha Sharma said. She further said: “Firstly, it had to be clarified whether whatever was written is true. Manipur government must clarify and if it is true then they must work on it. So, accordingly, we wrote to them. We reached out to authorities but no response was received from them but then we took suo moto cognizance when the video (of women being paraded naked) went viral.” 

The joint letter is as follows:

JOINT LETTER TO NCW BY NATIONAL WOMEN’S ORGANISATIONS

                                                                                                                                                                                            Date: 22 July 2023

To

Ms. Rekha Sharma,

Chairperson,

National Commission for Women

Dear Ms. Rekha Sharma,

We, the undersigned women’s organizations, are deeply shocked and appalled to learn that a complaint had been made to the NCW on 12 June 2023, regarding the heinous incident in Manipur of three women being publicly stripped and raped by a mob and that the NCW far from responding to the call of distress and taking immediate action, wrote letters to the Manipur government and kept waiting for a response. Hence, the NCW remained entirely inactive for more than a month. It is reported that there are other cases of sexual violence in Manipur. Only a couple of days back when a video clip of the brutal torture became public and there was widespread outrage all over the country, did the NCW wake from its sleep and take ‘suo moto cognizance’ of the crime. 

It is disturbing that no action was taken, except for the filing of a more a mere zero FIR in the incident that had happened on May 4, right after the ethnic violence began on 3 May 2023. This made the police apathy with the victims and collusion with the perpetrators of the crime abundantly clear. 

And the deafening silence of the CM and PM was highly condemnable. You are aware that the incidents of violence against women in the country have been on the rise. Did you not realize that women have become the direct victims of the ongoing ethnic violence in the state? 

We are strongly of the opinion that the NCW has betrayed its mandate and deliberately sought to cover up this incident. At the very least this is evidence of gross negligence on the part of a respected public institution like NCW which has the obligatory duty of protecting women in the country and upholding their rights irrespective of class, caste, religion, language, or ethnic origin. 

Our organizations have given leadership in the struggle to bring into existence a National Commission for Women which would maintain its autonomy and dignity in serving its high purpose and not act as an arm of the ruling party. We have often raised our voices to ensure that NCW does not falter from its lofty objective. NCW has a history of proactive interventions in the myriad issues concerning women. But under your stewardship, we have seen this institution degenerating into partisanship with the ruling dispensation. Your claims of having communicated to the officials in Manipur are too little too late.  Never have we seen the institution so shamefully undermining its own mandate. We feel the NCW – in deliberately ignoring and suppressing this atrocious attack upon two tribal women – has misused its office, besmirched its own position, and betrayed the trust the women’s movement in the country had reposed upon it. As chairperson of NCW, we hold you responsible for this shameful situation and we demand that you should forthwith submit your resignation from the post which you have proved yourself unworthy of.

ALL INDIA DEMOCRATIC WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION (AIDWA)–Mariam Dhawale 

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDIAN WOMEN (NFIW) – Annie Raja 

ALL INDIA PROGRESSIVE WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION (AIPWA) – Meena Tiwari 

ALL INDIA COORDINATION OF POW PMS IJM – G. Jhansi, Poonam Kaushik 

ALL INDIA MAHILA SANSKRITIK SANGHATAN (AIMSS) – Chhabi Mohanty 

ALL INDIA AGRAGAMI MAHILA SAMITI (AIAMS) – Fatima Khatoon 

Related:

Words of anguish resonate all-India, streets protests spill over, raising cries for justice: Manipur

Manipur Violence: Supreme Court warns union and state government to take action, or they will

Manipur Violence: Video showing 2 Kuki women being paraded naked opens the eyes of the government, PM Modi and Irani make first statements

“246 churches burnt in 2 day, somebody strong is playing games in Manipur”: Father Jacob G Palackappilly

Manipur violence: EU Parliament “denounces the nationalistic rhetoric deployed by leading members of the BJP party”

Manipur violence: SC provides interim protection in sedition case against lawyer who accompanied fact-finding team

Manipur Violence: SC bench seeks updated status report from State on rehabilitation, law & order situation

One in Manipur, another in Kashmir: Veterans slam two faces of Indian Army

Manipur is Burning but who cares?

Bishops of India must protest & speak out for peace, against injustices in Manipur & India: Jesuit priest

Denial of internet an assault on fundamental freedoms – a deep dive into Manipur’s incessant internet ban

Manipur women stage protest at Jantar Mantar to end violence in state

The Invisible Split: A report documenting reports of “ethnic cleansing” in Manipur, 2023

120 Churches destroyed, Christians insecure: Manipur

No Compensation Enough for Traumatised Kukis Fleeing Manipu

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All officials and journalists assessed that this was among the largest protest actions by women in the last 10 years after the new Palghar district was carved out of Thane district in 2014. Most of the women were Adivasis, but there was also a fair share of non-Adivasi women from different walks of life. They hailed from all 8 tehsils of Palghar district – Talasari, Dahanu, Jawhar, Mokhada, Vikramgad, Wada, Vasai and Palghar.

Giving resounding slogans on their demands as they marched, the sea of women (see pictures ) marched right into the collectorate and gheraoed it. It was only then that the administration swung into action, mobilised the officials, and held a two and a half hour discussion with the delegation from the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA). CPI(M) MLA Vinod Nikole was present. Two major decisions were taken.

1. The dates for tehsil level camps were finalised to resolve all issues related to ration (PDS) were decided upon. Both government officials and AIDWA leaders would be present.

2. On the other serious issues of water, employment, and health, the District Collector would convene a separate meeting of all officials with AIDWA at the earliest.

Preceding this mass protest, AIDWA women had led a 15-day campaign of filling in thousands of forms on the above issues, and these were submitted to the authorities and official receipts were obtained. Hundreds of local activists of AIDWA worked very hard for the success of this action. They were helped by fraternal organisations like the AIKS, CITU, and DYFI.

The delegation comprised AIDWA district secretary Lahani Dauda, district president Prachi Hatiwlekar, district treasurer Sunita Shingda, and other leaders.

On May 26, Thursday, another such AIDWA-led rally of women from tehsils of Thane district will march to the Thane district collectorate on the same issues.

Related:

AIDWA Calls for Fight Against Increasing Gender-Based Violence

With a 17-point demand charter, AIKS-led 10,000-strong Kisan Long March starts in Nashik

An AIKS Struggle Convention at Dahanu, Palghar where vows were taken to intensify struggles around land and farmer rights

The post Protests mount, 12,000 women march on issues of poor ration in PDS, water scarcity, unemployment appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) will organise a national campaign involving all sections of society to fight the “increasing” violence against women.

At the conclusion of the four-day AIDWA’s 13th national conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, Mariam Dhawale, who was re-elected as general secretary, said, “The youth are being targeted by drug agents, and violence against women is increasing.” 

The AIDWA will “organise a national campaign involving all sections of society and reach out to every woman”, she told the media.

During the conference, which started on January 6 with the slogan “Struggle in unity for equality”, 103 members were elected to the AIDWA central executive committee, which comprises a 34-member secretariat.

PK Sreemathi was elected president and S Punyavathi was re-elected treasurer respectively. Out of the 850 delegates, around 110 belonged to Scheduled Castes, 48 Scheduled Tribes and 310 Other Backward Classes. 

After a grand inauguration, the delegate session commenced with the general secretary placing two reports on work and organisation, and national and international issues. Over the next two days, delegates from 25 states and Union Territories deliberated on the reports. 

They discussed several issues at length such as the growing price rise, destruction of the Public Distribution System, rising unemployment, increasing debt through microfinance institutions and ending of the gas subsidy. The impact of such issues on women and the AIDWA’s role in countering them were highlighted by the delegates.

The rising violence against women with public spaces and nights becoming unsafe was also discussed. The delegates observed that the “menace of drug nexus between the police, politicians, ruling parties and agents” needs to be addressed.

AMENDMENTS & PUBLICATIONS

On the third day of the conference, a historical amendment was made to the AIDWA Constitution by including transwomen as members.

Article 4(c) was amended to include any woman, even transwomen, of 15 years and above as members. They need to conform with AIDWA’s aims and objectives and pay a membership fee of Rs 2.

Two more amendments were adopted pertaining to the nomination of patrons to the district committee and regarding the actions to be taken against those violating the AIDWA Constitution.

The AIDWA released five booklets—An All India Women’s Organisation Takes Shape: Proceedings of the First and the Second Conferences of AIDWA, Gumnam Virangnye (Unknown Women Fighters), Early Struggles for Law Reform: Dowry and Rape, Women Torchbearers of Kerala and a book by MC Josephine—and one diary.

AIDWA members release the proceedings of the first and second conference. Image courtesy: AIDWA.

COMMISSION PAPERS

The AIDWA conference simultaneously deliberated on six commission papers on January 8. The paper on ‘Climate Change and Women’ observed women as the “immediate victims” of climate change and called for urgent intervention.

The paper on ‘National Education Policy, 2020: A Setback for Women’s Struggle for Equality’ laid bare the “patriarchal vision of NEP, which violates the spirit of the Constitution”. It observed that “girl children face the repercussions” of clubbing boys and girls schools and of online education.

The paper on ‘Rights of the Girl Child’ discussed the right to health and education, allocation of separate and adequate budgets for welfare schemes for girls, and strict monitoring of child marriages and girl child trafficking, among others.The fourth paper, ‘The Women’s Movement in India and the Freedom Struggle’, discussed the need to document and assert women’s role in historic struggles given the “fabrication of history by right-wing forces”. 

The paper on ‘Women’s Rights and the Question of Unity’ stated in strong terms the urgent need to unite all women against the “imposition of a Manuvadi Hindu Rashtra”.

The sixth paper, ‘Unemployment and Women’, gave special focus to the “deterioration caused by the lockdown and the weakening of MNREGA”.

RESOLUTIONS

The conference in total adopted 13 resolutions, including a resolve to fight the “corporate loot of common property and natural resources” and for the right to work and employment guarantee. It also adopted a resolution to struggle to foster scientific temper and countering superstition.

The conference strongly resolved to fight for deregulating microfinance and drug abuse. The other resolutions included resisting attacks on federalism; protecting the rights of states; stopping targeted attacks against scholars, activists and journalists; revoking the remission of the sentence and expediting justice for victims of the Gujarat riots; taking forward the Kerala model of development; resisting the impact of the erosion of Ganga banks on women and their displacement, and the international refugee crisis.

FRATERNAL GREETINGS

The conference was greeted by DYFI president and MP AA Rahim, All India Agricultural Workers Union president A Vijayaraghavan, All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) general secretary Vijoo Krishnan and Students’ Federation of India (SFI) general secretary Mayukh Biswas.

Rahim said that Kerala had “provided a Left alternative and women’s resistance was an important part of building such an alternative”.

Vijayaraghavan noted that more than half the membership of AIAWU comprises women and there is a “need to intensify a joint action to build an alternative”.

Krishnan gave the slogan of “Mahila-kisan ekta (Women-farmers unity)” and noted that the Kisan Sabha had taken up many issues related to women farmers, particularly, land rights for landless families.

All India Kisan Sabha general secretary Vijoo Krishnan addresses the AIDWA conference. Image courtesy: AIDWA.

Biswas said that women and girl students are “facing several challenges in the wake of the NEP’s implementation”. “The SFI is taking several steps to counter it”, he said hoping that there would be several joint agitations and actions by the Federation and the AIDWA. He ended his speech with the slogan “SFI-AIDWA Zindabad”.

SFI general secretary Mayukh Biswas addresses the conference. Image credit: AIDWA.

The conference concluded with a rally in which around one lakh women participated and a public meeting addressed by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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On November 15, 2022, the University Grants Commission sent a letter to 45 Central and 45 Deemed to be universities, to hold lectures on India: Mother of Democracy in order to celebrate Constitution Day on 26 November 2022. The letter directs all Universities to hold lectures on the “ancient origins of Indian Democracy” apart from reading the Preamble and the Chapter on Fundamental Duties.

The AIDWA statement says, “The UGC appears to have circulated a concept note on this subject which identifies 15 themes. Though the note has not been made public, several media reports and the statements of the UGC Chairperson suggest that the themes include the glorification of anti-women ancient texts and traditions.  The themes of the lectures include Khap Panchayats, feudal and dictatorial monarchies and anti-women customs that follow the Manusmruti.  It is very ironical that the UGC has asked Universities to celebrate Constitution Day in a manner that fundamentally ignores the rights of women to a decent and dignified life. While it asks people to read the preamble, it promotes ideas and texts that have laid the foundation of the oppression of women since ancient times.

“The UGC has been attempting to push courses of Vedic culture and alter the academic syllabus to suit the patriarchal Hindutva brigade. By issuing this letter, it has shown that it is not an autonomous agency which is wedded to the ideals of modern education, but that it is becoming a hand-maiden of the Hindutva brigade. It is directly following the direction of the Prime Minister Modi, who has been selling the idea of Vedic democracy as an ideal political system. This idea is fundamentally against the spirit of the Constitution and furthers the regressive and anti-women content of the NEP, 2020. The NEP, 2020 lays the foundation of the promotion of Hindutva morality in universities and opens the window for the glorification of patriarchal traditions. The UGC Chairperson’s latest comments, also provide a justification for legitimizing illegal and conservative social institutions like the Khap Panchayats, against whom the AIDWA has waged a long campaign.”

Therefore the AIDWA calls upon the UGC to exercise its constitutionally mandated role of promoting modern education that is based on the Constitutional Values. It appeals to all members of the University to oppose attempts which will alter the character of UGC and make it an instrument of conservative Hindutva politics. The statement has been issued by Malini Bhattacharya, president and Mariam Dhawale, general secretary of the organisation.

Polit Bureau: withdraw UGC advisory forthwith

Meanwhile, the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) strongly rejects
“the UGC chairperson, M. Jagdish Kumar’s letter to all Governors to “encourage” universities in their states to hold lectures on themes such as the “ideal king” in Indian philosophy, as well as, ‘Khap Panchayats’ and their “democratic traditions” to celebrate India as the “mother of
democracy” on Constitution day on November, 26.

“This is in direct contravention of the framework of our Constitution, as well as, statutory provisions of the UGC Act as enacted by the Parliament. UGC has planned 90 lectures in 90 universities across the country.

“The UGC chairperson’s ridiculous claim is that ancient India was unique because there was no autocracy or aristocratism. It is unbecoming of the UGC chairperson to make such an assertion which is a negation of the reality of Varnashram and the caste based social hierarchy that is a major challenge in the evolution of our modern democracy.

“The UGC chairperson negates the Constitutional requirement of democratic consultation with the elected state governments in the sphere of higher education and has directly approached the unelected RSS-BJP appointed governors to pursue this agenda. This exposes the real objective of the National Education Policy of using education as an instrument for destroying scientific temper and rationality while undermining the foundations of our
Constitution.”

The polit bureau has also urged all democratic organizations and individuals to join in demanding the immediate stoppage of this exercise.

Related:

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Open letter to Sharda University Vice Chancellor
AIFUCTO Calls for Withdrawing NEP, Revival of old Pension Scheme

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New Delhi: The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) has written to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law & Justice about reforms in personal laws.

The organisation, which has actively dealt with issues of personal laws for the last 40 years, noted its surprise about the Committee’s decision to ask for memoranda concerning the entire gamut of personal law within a short period of 21 days.

“This gives the impression that the entire exercise of asking for memoranda is not a serious attempt to get the opinions of various organisations and people working on the issue, but is just a formality. If it were serious in eliciting views and in getting Memoranda, the Committee would have allotted far more time for this purpose. It is unacceptable and absurd that suggestions for such wide-ranging reforms can be given in three weeks,” the letter noted.

In its memorandum, AIDWA unequivocally opposed a Unifrom Civil Code (UCC), stating that it cannot be equated to equality.

“The 21st Law Commission to whom the Modi Government had referred the question of the UCC, had clearly stated that “a Uniform Civil Code is neither necessary nor desirable.” It further recommended reform in different personal laws and tolerance of plurality and differences in the different personal laws. AIDWA advocates reform in different personal laws in consultation with the concerned community, particularly with the women of the community.”

Furthermore, the women’s rights organisation called some of the aspects identified for review “vague.” The Committee has said it is thinking about reforming personal laws, but it hasn’t delineated the areas which would be subjected to reform.

“This can only mean codifying Muslim personal law and perhaps laws which come under the Sixth Schedule, pertaining to the tribal areas.”

AIDWA said that mere codification does not give equal rights to women, adding that it could only be after extensive discussions with the communities involved.

“We have seen how Muslims have been targeted for exercising their choice to wear a Hijab and how this has affected their fundamental right to education. Also, the Central government, without protecting the rights of divorced Muslim women, initiated the law to put Muslim men in jail with an obvious communal intent for a practice that the Supreme Court had already declared null and void. Muslim youth who have been in consensual relationships have been targeted and jailed in several fictitious cases of ‘Love Jihad’.”

In these circumstances, we are fearful that on the pretext of reviewing of personal law, the effort may be to bring in uniform laws, which will be majoritarian laws, and not laws that give substantive equal rights to women. Uniformity of law by itself will not result in substantive equal rights for women, and in fact, will probably result in duplicating Hindu laws and their gender biases on all communities,” AIDWA said it its memorandum.

Furthermore, AIDWA wrote that nothing had been done to ensure equal rights for women over marital property. Additionally, as per AIDWA, Hindus and other women do not have equal land rights in agricultural property in a few such, such as Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

“Though the Hindu Succession Act was amended in 2005 to remove an exception which exempted agricultural land from the purview of the HSA, the inheritance to agricultural land continues to be governed by some state laws which actively stop women from this inheritance. In fact, these laws have been placed in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution with the intention of keeping them outside the purview of courts.”

The organisation also discussed anti-conversion laws, child marriage, etc.

“We request the Committee to make its position UCC clear so that we are assured that the present exercise is not a step towards bringing about a Uniform Civil Code. We, therefore, urge the Committee not to embark on this mammoth task in such a short period and withdraw the three weeks deadlines. We also urge the Committee to have hearings in centres throughout the country as has been done in the past on women-related Laws.”

AIDWA Memorandum on Reforms in Personal Laws.pdf 

Courtesy: Newsclick

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The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), which works on issues of democracy, equality and women’s emancipation, and has an organisational presence in 23 states, has strongly disagreed with the recent Union Cabinet decision to raise the age of marriage to 21 from 18 years for girls. “This move, ostensibly for ‘women’s empowerment’, will be totally ineffective in a situation where the government has failed to meet even the most basic nutritional, educational and employment needs of the people,” stated AIDWA.

On Thursday, the Union Cabinet gave clearance to a proposal to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years, bringing the legal age of marriage at par for both women and men. A task force headed by Jaya Jaitly has submitted its recommendations to Niti Aayog. It had been set up to examine matters pertaining to the age of motherhood, lowering Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), and related issues. According to news reports, the Government will next introduce an amendment to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, as well as amend the Special Marriage Act and personal laws such as the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, to reflect the new minimum age limit. 

According to the activists this “move will in fact be counterproductive since raising the age of marriage for girls will result in further targeting of choice marriages.” They explain that it will also pave the “way to control the sexuality of a young girl, who already faces an uphill task to marry someone of her choice.” The statements elucidates that various “studies have shown and we know from our experience that criminalisation of consensual sexual activity between young persons has often led to charges of kidnapping, rape and other crimes including under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, leading to the breaking of these unions and incarceration of the young man involved.” Raising the age with this background will therefore result in “affecting the basic constitutional rights of women to privacy and autonomy” they stated.

They also call the argument that raising the age of marriage of women will bring about gender equality as “fallacious”. The AIDWA had previously demanded that the age of marriage of boys should in fact be reduced to 18 years. At 18 the age of majority, all Indians have the right to vote and have the capacity to enter into contracts. “The 18th Law Commission had also recommended that the age of marriage should be 18 for boys to bring about parity. This will also stop the boy from being subjected to various criminal penalties,” stated AIDWA.

According to the group of activists, this move to raise the marriageable age “is clearly a diversionary tactic from a government which refuses to allocate adequate resources towards nutritional programs like the ICDS, education and healthcare. If, as has been noted, the nutritional status of women remains low from birth onwards, getting married at 21 and having a child after that cannot improve the condition of maternal and child health or mortality.”

The AIDWA has demanded that the government scrap this move to raise the age of marriage of girls to 21.

Related:

No more teenage girls to be forced into marriage in India?

Can minor’s consent be considered in POCSO cases?

Rajasthan: New marriage registration bill legitimises child marriage? 

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The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) on August 6, 2021 demanded an investigation against police officials for their alleged “silent complicity” in the gang-rape of a minor girl from the Valmiki community in Delhi’s cantonment area. 

After meeting the girl’s family, a delegation led by Brinda Karat, AIDWA Delhi General Secretary Asha Sharma and Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch leader Nathu Prasad appealed that the Delhi government revise its former compensation of Rs. 10 lakhs to the family. They demanded that the family be assisted in terms of rehabilitation, protection and legal recourse. 

The Valmiki community has historically suffered caste discrimination. The victim of the Hathras sexual assault incident that shook the country last year was part of this community as well. Moreover, much like in the Hathras incident, here too, the 9-year-old girl’s body was forcibly cremated against her family’s will in Purana Nangal village. On the day of the incident, the girl went to get water from a cooler at the nearby crematorium.

There, the girl met the group of accused which included the crematorium priest. On learning of her fate, the girl’s parents went to the cremation ground with over a hundred villagers. The family lamented her death and unapproved cremation.

“What is even more shocking is that the priest claimed that the girl was cremated with her mother’s consent. This is a white lie, because the delegation learnt that in that particular village, young girls are buried and not cremated,” said AIDWA General Secretary Mariam Dhawale.

Further, the mother said the priest warned her not to report the crime and stick to the narrative that she was electrocuted while getting the water. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police detained the parents and allegedly manhandled the father instead of arresting the accused, said the AIDWA. Officials delayed the registration of an FIR against the four accused. Finally, they caved under the growing dissent by villagers.

“There are attempts to shield the culprits by the Delhi police, as is usually the case in incidents of violence against women,” said Dhawale.

After the cremation, only parts of the victim’s body were left. The doctors panel of Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital said it is difficult to ascertain whether or not the girl was sexually assaulted.

The AIDWA denounced the role of the Delhi police in this incident and condemned the deafening silence of the Union Home Minister, who leads the city police. Members also condemned the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister’s insensitive comment about the crime being ‘politicised.’

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As many as 50 women travelled from Amritsar, Punjab to the Singhu border on February 22, 2021 to present farmer leaders with the soil from Jallianwala Bagh.

The procession organised by the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) travelled to the protest site and held a women’s meeting on February 23. Later, the group moved to other protest sites such as the Ghazipur border and the Tikri border.

Farmer leaders accepted the soil while women also did the ‘jaggo’ a traditional dance of Punjab. The soil represented the Jallianwala bagh massacre wherein innocent bystanders were killed by Britishers. The brutality of the incident had mobilised the entire nation into action in the pre-independence period.

AIDWA leaders Mariam Dhawale, Asha Sharma, Kanwaljeet Kaur, Neeru, Rajwati, Farida, Madhu, Rukhsana, Ranjini Basu and others led the jatha. Similarly, Delhi AIDWA activists also mobilised members to accompany the Punjab Women’s Jatha at the borders.

Aside from such demonstrations, mahapanchayats continue organised by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) continue with strong participation of farmers in different locations of Haryana, Rajasthan and other states. Farmer leaders intend to spread mahapanchayats to other parts of India as well.

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