On the Occasion of 103rd International Women's Day

Today is the day to proclaim that we too, are humans, Despicable slavery in all forms is not acceptable to us!
Sisters! Friends! We have arrived at the 103rd International Womens day at a time when the conditions have severely deteriorated. This day reminds us of womens struggle for equality, for their liberation and rights. However, in the present scenario, the conditions of women have gone from bad to worse. The conscience of the common masses rebelled when the incident of brutal gang rape occured in Delhi on 16th Dec. People were on the streets for a long time in protest against the brutal gang rape and demanded harshest punishment for the rapists. But the anti-women crimes have continued to grab the headlines even after the incident. Hardly a day passes when the news of rape, dowry killing, acid attacks, molestation etc. are not heard from one corner of the country or the other. The new ordinance passed by the government on 3rd February for womens security does not guarantee real security for women. It has infact blurred the lines which exist between rape, sexual violence and relationships made by consent and thus the Khap Panchayats will now get an opportunity to snatch away the right of choosing their life partners from the youth. No mention has been made of marital rape. No mention has been made of the most brutal anti-women crimes committed by the police and armed forces in the North-East, Chhattisgarh and Kashmir under the garb of AFSPA and Disturbed Areas Act too. Merely a political maneuver has been employed to silence the popular protest of the masses by introducing the clause of capital punishment. In reality, even the existing rights of women have been snatched away from them. The mentality of the people in the government was exposed through Dented and Painted comment made by son of Pranab Mukherjee and the other shameful comments made by politicians like Sharad Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, Om Prakash Chautala and Mayawati. The psyche of police and bureaucracy was also exposed through the sting operation carried out by Tehelka magazine which revealed the viewpoint of policemen. According to them, women are themselves responsible for rapes and molestation and some women have even made it a business. Even the religious leaders and heads of organizations like RSS and Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind could not control the outpour of their cheap thinking full of filthy ideas. Asharam Bapu sermonized that the rape victim in 16th Dec. case should have pleaded for mercy instead of resisting the rapists. Mohan Bhagwat suggested that women should only be housewives to prevent such incidents in future. But he does not give the same suggestion to Sushma Swaraj and Meenakshi Lekhi! The reactionaries from Jamaat-e-Islami Hind passed a decree that rapes could be stopped if co-education is abolished. This means that all the factions of the ruling classes have started suggesting how women should behave and how not! We know that 26 men with charges of rape against them sit in the parliament itself; a little back a minister was caught watching a porn video on his mobile in the Karnataka State Assembly. There are about 286 such men in parliament who have allegations of anti-women crimes against them. The treatment of women by the Khap panchayats is known to the entire country. The mindset of police and army towards women is much evident from the Mathura rape case, Kunan - Poshpura incidents and the Manorama rape case of Manipur.

In a nutshell, we can say that we have reached the 103rd Womens Day amidst bleak times. The reactionary forces of the country are hell bent on snatching away even the remaining few rights of women. Attempts are being made to disarm the women of their rights which they had won during their struggle of the past 103 years. The resolution to celebrate 8th March as International Womens Day was passed in 1910 in Copenhagen during the conference organized by the workers' parties. Since then, the struggle for womens rights has traversed a long journey, during which they have won the right to vote, inheritance, equal pay for equal work etc. at least on paper. Although it is a different matter that when the whole of capitalist system blinded by its greed and hunger for profit is considering women as commodities for use, then how far can such laws be implemented? The women cannot get their rights merely through formal legal measures. On top of that such laws can be counted on fingers which offer any sort of actual freedom to women. It is much clear that the Womens Liberation Struggle faces great challenges. In such a scenario, where on one hand, we remember the struggle of renowned personalities like Rosa Luxembourg, Clara Zetkin, Alexandra Kollontai, Bikaji Cama, Marie Curie and the glorious struggles of the working women and give a call to resurrect these struggles, on the other hand, we also call upon all the women who have a desire for equality and liberty to break the chains and join to celebrate this day as a day of new resolves. The womens liberation movement has become a centre for some NGOs, Elitist Feminist Organizations and picnic activism of some identity based political organizations. The International Womens Day was created by working-class women and all the rights that women have won so far have been won through the struggles of working-class women and the whole of working class movement and not through elitist struggles. It is not a coincidence that the first state to give voting rights to women was the first workers state, the Soviet Union. Today, once again we need to free the womens liberation struggle from middle class confines and take it to streets. Women will have to fight for everything from their right to choose their profession an well as attire to their freedom to choose their life partner. They will have to fight for the right to equal pay for equal work. They will have to fight against being turned into a commodity. They have to fight for their right to education. They have to fight for their right to fight, not only for their own liberation but for the liberation of the entire working class. This is the true message of International Womens Day! On this occasion, we call upon all the women, students-youth and worker friends to come forward in this struggle. Pakshdhar Vichaar Manch and University Community for Democracy and Equality call upon you to join this campaign and take forward the project of womens liberation.

Hold High the Banner of Women Liberation! Raise Your Voice Against Capitalist Patriarchy!

Pakshdhar Vichaar Manch University Community for Democracy and Equality

Prashant: 9619039793, pakshdhar.mu@gmail.com, ucde.mu@gmail.com