People's Democracy

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Pledge To Defeat BJP-led NDA

THOUSANDS of AIDWA members all over the country celebrated March 8, International Women’s Day jointly with many other women’s organi-sations. Big processions and rallies were organised in Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and many other states. The false propaganda of BJP about ‘India Shining’ and ‘Bharat Uday’ was exposed in all the public meetings by giving concrete figures relating to starvation deaths, growing violence, lack of employment, falling sex ratio, deteriorating health conditions of women etc as a result of pro-rich policies pursued by the NDA government in the name of globalisation and liberalisation. Significantly, women belonging to different organisations unanimously gave a call to defeat BJP and its allies in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Women from 14 women’s organisations in Delhi came together, assembled at Lal Qila grounds and marched past Town Hall upto the Fatehpuri Chowk.

In the meeting that was held at the Fatehpuri Masjid Chowk, Brinda Karat, general secretary of AIDWA, made a scathing attack on the "Shining India" campaign and said that it was like applying salt on the wounds of women. All the promises made to women have been broken, like women reservation bill, bill on domestic violence etc. Women’s employment has come down. She ridiculed the NDA that it promised to create 1 crore jobs but ended up drastically reducing jobs. The most affected section were women, who either do not have jobs or are forced to work for unbelievably low-paid jobs. She chided the NDA for supporting American imperialism who were blatantly violating human rights in Iraq and Palestine.

Sahba Farooqui of NFIW questioned the definition of development the NDA is proposing. Their "feel good" is only for the urban elite, Sahba said. After the government sponsored pogrom in Gujarat, it was clear the BJP and NDA’s "feel good" is not for all.

Suman Krishankant of Mahila Dakshata Samiti marched with the women but could not speak due to ill health. Husna Subhani of JWP condemned the NDA and its tall claims of "feel good factor."

The underlying theme in the songs and the skits was also the hype about the "India shining" campaign of NDA government. The women pledged to expose the government and defeat the BJP-led NDA at the hustings.