On 21st March’10 , Purogami Mahila Sangathan and the Ulhasnagar Samiti of Lok Raj Sangathan organized a public meeting to celebrate 100th anniversary of International Women’s day.
On 21st March’10 , Purogami Mahila Sangathan and the Ulhasnagar Samiti of Lok Raj Sangathan organized a public meeting to celebrate 100th anniversary of International Women’s day.
Sports competitions were organized, in the two days running up to the meeting, for women and children of Shanti nagar and neighboring areas. Large number of leaflets explaining the history and importance of IWD were distributed during the week in all the surrounding areas.
The meeting began with an introductory speech by a young lady teacher on behalf of Purogami Mahila Sangathan . She explained briefly the oppressive conditions of Indian women even after more than 60 years of Independence. She also explained as to how the struggle for women’s emancipation is a part of the struggle for ending exploitation of man by man. Her inspiring call to the audience “Will we carry forward the glorious struggle ?” found enthusiastic response in the women, men and youth in the audience, reflected in their resounding “Yes , we will”!
The vice president of Lok Raj Sangathan said, in her speech, that unless people have political power, none of their problems will be resolved completely. She also explained that building and participating in the local samitis, and taking up the struggles of people, with the aim of vesting political power in the hands of people, is the way forward. Such local samitis will mobilize and enable the people to take power in their own hands.
The speaker from the Communist Ghadar Party of India hailed the historic occasion of the centenary of International Women’s Day, which marks a hundred years of the struggle of working women in the United States and Europe against capitalist exploitation for their rights as workers and women. He elaborated on the call of the Party to the women of our country to set the political aim of the women’s movement as nothing less than a new state power, a new Constitution and a new political system and process.
The new state power we want is the rule of workers and peasants – It means a qualitative change in the nature of democracy from being the rule of an exploiting minority to being the rule of the toiling majority. The new Constitution that we are demanding will vest supreme decision making power with the people. He explained that women and the working people need is a new political system and process, a different kind of democracy where we, the majority, set the agenda and control those who are elected, making sure that they implement the agreed upon agenda.
The bourgeoisie does not want women to fight for this new state; it wants to limit the scope of the women’s movement to the demand for accommodation of more women within the existing political power. The bourgeoisie does not want to change the basic foundations of this political system. They only want to increase the number of women who learn to participate in this system of preserving bourgeois rule. Women must not fall for this illusion of power. We must continue our struggle for real power in our hands, that is, in the hands of the workers, peasants, women and youth who together constitute the vast majority in society.
Following his strong criticism and exposure of dirty aims of ruling classes behind the Women’s Reservation Bill, when he asked the audience “Will such a Bill mean any substantial change for crores of working women of India ?”, the women and men responded with conviction “No, never!”
Progressive and revolutionary songs presented by local Lok Raj Samiti enhanced the spirit of the meeting. The program ended with slogans upholding IWD, unity of women, men and youth and resolution to strengthen the local Lok Raj Samiti.