Date – 25th September, 2018
Theme - Lynching
Resource Person - Shujayathulla, ISI

The Marmara held at Mahatma Gandhi Dr. B.R.AmbedkarMahilaAbhivrudhi Sangha, BTM Layout was slightly different from our usual Marmaras. Around 20 women gathered to discuss the topic on lynching. Since they were a new community, they were first introduced to the members of Vimochana and were given an outline of the work done here. They were then introduced to Mr. Shujayathulla, the resource person from Indian Social Institute. This was followed by an explanation of the campaign ‘BateinAman Ki’, of how theIndian constitution enshrines women’s rights to equality, including freedom of voice, movement and rights over their own bodies and that there is a need to evoke the constitutional rights, especially in the context of the spate of violence that has been taken place across the country including gang rape of women.

As Shujayathulla started the discussion on lynching, the women were more interested in discussing other issues that they faced in their community. They spoke about politicians being involved in communal riots, the price increase in fuel and other commodities that were affecting their livelihood and how people below poverty line were left with no one to come to their rescue in critical times. The women also had a lot of questions as to why there has been an increase in sexual crimes against the dalits and minorities, what really happens to the rapist after he is arrested? Does the government provide any medical benefits to the survivors of rape? How does the society help parents of minor rape victims cope with the situation? Can organizations come forward to help senior citizens avail adhaar cards, ration cards, etc?

The group was interested in organizing more Marmarasto discuss each issue in depth. Like the women who gathered for the Marmara at Surya MahilaSeva Sangha, Mico Layout, these women were domestic workers too and coincidently they too wanted to know more on government facilities for domestic workers. Even though the Marmara did not cover too much on the planned topic, the other issues that were brought up by the group was worth discussing.

 

Photos of the Marmara