All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) 9th National Conference on 30 September
The 9th National Conference of AIPWA will be held on 30 September to 1 October in Delhi. Mina Tiwari, general secretary of AIPWA said that in challenging times when the government has left no stone unturned to suppress the voices of freedom and democracy, women are trying to raise their voice on issues ranging from livelihood to rights, equality and justice, we can see an open attempt by the dominant social-religious class and the feudal elements to suppress their voices brutally.
We saw how the Modi government which raises the slogan of ‘save the girl child’ defended the BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who even now continues to be a BJP member and the Member of Parliament. More recently the results of BJP’s divisive politics came to fore in Manipur when two women from the Kuki tribe were paraded naked in the presence of the police and a woman was gang raped in the midst of continuing violence there.
Women’s freedom of choice and their growing claim to live as a citizen are being sought to be stifled by the ruling power through various conspiracies. Today, by introducing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC)-that is, 'one law for all', the BJP government wants to create communal polarisation, while the real need is that the discourse on justice and equality for women inform all the existing family laws and special laws.
These can be called the most frightening time of communal politics when the rapists of Bilkis Bano are released by terming them ‘cultured’, when Muslim girl students are forced to leave schools on the pretext of Hijab, when there is false propagation of love jihad, when provisions are made to send Muslim men to jail under the triple talaq law (while there is no such provision in another divorce law), and many such actions are being provided legal and constitutional garbs. We also know that these believers of the Manusmriti are ideologically staunchly opposed to gender justice and women equality in laws of marriage, divorce, succession and other needs of life. Along with innumerable crimes like dowry harassment, honor killings, harassment of Dalit, backward tribal and poor women, female foeticide, rape, and punishing women by calling them witches, in today’s times we are also witnessing an increase in the number of new forms of crimes against women such as cyber blackmailing, online threats, trolling, morphed videos, cyber pornography etc.
Today educated girls in cities and villages are facing unemployment. Working women are facing exploitation at their workplaces. Women are being pushed into the unorganised sector. Scheme workers are being exploited in the name of honorarium. The right to form labour unions is being taken away. Inflation is skyrocketing, gas cylinders are becoming costlier, and there are no housing, and hospital facilities for poor women. Hence, it has become necessary for women from every section to organise and oppose this anti-women political-social environment and strongly raise the questions of their livelihood, security, respect and equality.
The 9th National Conference of All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) will deliberate on these burning issues of the day and chalk out a struggle path for the coming days.
