South Asia Citizens Web

We write you
mindful that conditions for peace and prosperity in Kashmir are linked
to the possibility and necessity of justice that addresses crimes
perpetrated on the basis of gender during, and as a result of,
militarization.

The Bill giving 33 per cent reservation to women will empower not only women but change the social structure of India in many ways. This Bill is unprecedented and is softly a revolution in the making. We must welcome this as an Act.

The 8th of March, International Women’s Day, is always a day for stock-taking and introspection. 2010 also marks the 15th anniversary of the Beijing World Conference on Women, a landmark in their fight for equality. Yet, international days come and go and so do conferences. In India, assessing progress at the ground level is an extremely difficult task given the diversity of Indian women of different regions, castes, classes, educational levels, and occupations. There are many of us who are still bereft of basic entitlements of food, clothing and shelter while others today have the freedom to make choices and lead the lives they value.

It was not governments or the UN which first celebrated ‘Women’s Day’. The idea of an International Women’s Day arose from the struggles of women workers against extremely harsh and inhuman working conditions, for franchise and for peace. 8th March is celebrated as International Women’s Day (IWD), as a day to mark women’s collective efforts over the years to attain justice and equality for themselves and their children, and to re-assert their struggles for a world free of oppression, exploitation and injustice.

Indians and Pakistanis are paying much more for their crimes/mistakes than the law on either side prescribes.