The resolution, passed at the 11th All India Conference expressed the view that those working in the unorganized sector, those living in the rural hinterland and women were the worst victim of demonetisation. More than 80 people are reported dead due to the stress of having to stand in queues to withdraw or exchange their hard earned money, due to being denied essential medical treatment, etc. Lakhs of peasants are unable to complete their sowing operations for the ensuing rabi season due to lack of cash to buy necessary seed and fertilizer. Similarly workers in the unorganized sector, especially construction workers, casual and agricultural workers, self-employed and daily wage earners have suffered due to loss of employment. It was estimated that 4 lakh jobs in the garment, textile and jewellery sectors alone were lost in the first 10 days of demonetization.

Women have been particularly affected. There are stories of women having committed suicide in despair due to their inability to feed their children, owing to a sudden loss of family income and due to lack of access to their own money in banks. It is reported that 80% of women have no access to banking facilities, and those that do often share them jointly with their husbands.

Several resolutions dealing with the problems which women face were passed at the conference. The resolution on Triple Talaq welcomed and supported the initiative taken by some Muslim women to move the Supreme Court to ban the unilateral and arbitrary practice of instant, arbitrary triple talaq and polygamy. These practices are blatantly discriminatory, demean women and contravene human rights. The affidavit filed by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board in response is retrograde and patriarchal, lacks a sense of justice and has nothing to do with religious belief as most Muslim countries do not give legal recognition to these obnoxious practices.

The AIDWA said “it is unfortunate that the BJP government has deliberately raised the issue of a Uniform Civil Code at this juncture and the Law Commission has been encouraged to issue a badly drafted and ill-conceived questionnaire about the desirability of a Uniform Civil Code. This is a brazen attempt to deepen communal polarization and sideline the issues of justice for Muslim women. We have always asserted that Uniformity cannot be equated with equality.”

The AIDWA also expressed deep anguish and concern about the steep increase in the number of crimes in the name of ‘honour’ across the country. Latest data shows the number of murders with this motive alone recorded by the National Crime Records Bureau increased from 28 in 2014 to 251 in 2015,with as many as 131 in Uttar Pradesh. However, this does not include other types of crimes including social and economic boycott, rape and sexual assault, and other types of insulting and discriminatory behavior which are also used as instruments to assert the so called ‘honor’ of the family or community.

Crimes in the name of honor are driven by a dangerous mix of prevalent norms of caste purity, patriarchy, religious bigotry and community identity. They are a direct attack on the democratic rights of young people to exercise their choice in relationships and marriage.

The four-day conference also passed a resolution condemning various antihuman rights acts of the Chhattisgarh government. The resolution said that 'For the last ten years the Raman Singh Government in Chhattisgarh has been unleashing ‘Salwa Judum’ campaign in the name of anti-Naxal and anti-‘Maoist’ operations. However these anti-Naxal operations have turned out to be anti-Adivasi operations as the Adivasi people of Chhattisgarh find themselves caught in the crossfire between the joint operations of the Chhattisgarh Police and the CRPF and the ‘Maoists’.'

The conference was inaugurated by the Kerala Chief Minister P. Vijayan. In his address he described the BJP and Narendra Modi government as anti-women. He quoted facts and figured in support of his contention.

While greeting the conference on behalf of CPM, Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat stated 'Our struggles are not just a call against injustice. We work towards a social vision which will guarantee democracy and equality and bring us to our goal of women's emancipation. This year we celebrate the centenary of the great October revolution led by the Bolshevik party and Lenin. There can be no doubt that the early builders of the Left oriented women's movements in India were greatly inspired by the path breaking achievements of Russian women in Socialist Russia. Indeed all over the world, women's struggles and movements for an end to sex based discrimination, got a huge boost with the extraordinary steps for the emancipation of women taken by the first Socialist State. In comparison to the most developed capitalist countries at the time, Socialist Russia under the leadership of the Bolshevik party and Lenin took the most radical steps in the legal, economic, social, cultural, political and domestic spheres, touching the lives of women.'

“Very recently, the most outstanding Marxist and revolutionary, Com Fidel Castro passed away. We have paid homage to him earlier today. He had continued the legacy of Lenin building a Socialist Cuba which has had the most remarkable achievements in the liberation of women from the centuries old exploitation and oppression.”

The conference felicitated four 'Women Achievers' and 'Symbols of Resistance' in the inaugural session of the conference. Some of these women are symbols of resistance who have been fighting for justice and resisting violence. Some of them are achievers who have overcome myriad obstacles in their lives. Through their inspiring speeches they have once again shown that unity, determination and struggle is the only road to success. (IPA Service)