Introduction – Tree on Violence, Anekal
Beating the Tamata, singing songs the Marmara Tree on Violence against Women called upon the village people of Anekal,the students, local women’s groups and elected representatives to gather around the Peepal Tree, the traditional village Panchayat Katte.
The conversation began with a song
don’t make light of a woman’s dignity
know a life that gives birth to another life
is no less a human being than anyone (a man)
Four women shared their life stories of violence and abuse, the struggles in the dailiness of their lives, their resilience and of the support they received from the elected women representatives and the people in the community of Anekal.
The community conversation thereafter centered around the failure of the justice system, the law enforcing machinery in particular the callousness of the police; the hesitancy to seek remedies from existing laws covering domestic violence due to inaccessibility or non availability of the implementing body/person; the involvement of political persons in particular cases forcing the woman to compromise and reconcile; the need to look at the issue of violence against women as not only a personal issue but also a political and a social issue and the responsibility of the entire community.
Some of the important values that were articulated in the discussion included: to speak from one’s conscience; ethics in personal and political life of people in politics, of women not seeking to revenge even when one is a victim of violence.
The conversation concluded with asking the people gathered
- to socially ostracise the husband of one of the testifiers and collectively demand compensation
- to make the suspicious husband (of one of the woman testifier) publicly accountable to the violence done to his wife
- to tell candidates contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections that they would only vote for those who promise to ensure the safety of women otherwise would boycott the elections as a community.
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