Actress Sharmila Tagore, historian Mridula Mukherjee, Justice Anjana Prakash, and several other eminent people are amongst the 1,516 citizens from across the country who have endorsed a statement released by the National Coalition for Women’s Reservation (NCWR).
On July 10, the NCWR announced a nationwide programme of action for the unconditional and immediate implementation of women’s reservation.
“Stand with us”, said Annie Raja from the National Federation of Indian Women, encouraging everyone to join the cause.
“They want to respect women but fear putting them in power”, said Minakshi Singh, who is a part of Unity in Compassion. The Phulrenu Ghua Committee stated that only about five per cent of women were present in the Parliament in its ‘Towards Equality’ report released in 1974. Thus, the limited political space that women had in India was recognised.
Since then, the struggle for women’s reservation in the Parliament has transformed over the years.
However, now, the Women's Reservation Bill, 2023, which has been clubbed together with delimitation and census, has led to dissatisfaction.
“This decade is a decade of betrayal of women in the country”, said social activist Shabnam Hashmi.
The NCWR announced a week-long joint dharna across the country from the beginning of the Parliament's monsoon session on July 20.
The focus is on raising awareness and encouraging public engagement through songs and posters.
“We are expecting thousands and thousands of women this time”, said Dhiya Ann Mathew, who is a part of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA).
“We are Inquilabi Women here”, said Nisha Siddhu, from the National Federation of Indian Women.
State-specific initiatives and experiments are part of the nation-wide dharna announced. Demonstrations and rallies in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Odisha have been planned for July 20-21.
A dharna in front of the Raj Bhavan in Kerala and Himachal Pradesh has also been planned on these two days.
Conventions and protests in UP, Assam, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are also part of the programme.
Immediate implementation of the Women Reservation Bill, delinking it from the delimitation and census, is seen as their only agenda.
“We cannot tolerate being the smoke-screen used by the government”, said transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj.
