Dear All,
Thank you all for a great meeting for the revival of Socialist Mahila Sabha. I have summarised the event proceedings as below:
1. We started with Prof. Binda Paranjape addressing the attendees about the challenges of our times and raised the question on the forum about how to keep patience in the struggle and not lose momentum. She introduced Deepa Sawale ji who has written a book on Pannalal Surana ji.
2. Pannalal Surana ji guided us with his wisdom. He said that to fight inequality we need to question the Vedas and other texts which support inequalities. Our frame of reference has to be the worker class. Women from the working class have to be organised. Our struggle has to be a peaceful one and the elder leaders have to show the path in this aspect to the younger karyakartas. We need to assert every single time that we are not interested in any struggle that is not peaceful. Pannalal Ji also said that we need to fight the patriarchal mindset without making men our enemies. Men have to be a part of the struggle against patriarchy. He also guided that the Sabha members should meet at least once every week or a fortnight to keep the momentum and increase camaraderie.
3. Kavita Srivastava from PUCL, was our main speaker for the event. She said that in the current times when the constitution of India is itself under attack, women will be the ones most marginalised. Hence, women have to lead this struggle. There is over-centralisation of power and there is an attack on democracy. Women will suffer the most if this agenda is allowed to be completed. She said that this is the 4th Women’s movement, and this one is for equality, peace, and agency. We need not only protect our democratic rights but also save our “Jal, jungle, zameen, kheti-kisaani”. She also spoke against the latest population control policy brought in by UP govt and said the Socialist Mahila Sabha should associate with PUCL in this fight. She also suggested that women’s meetings should always start and end with songs.
4. Ajanta Sarkar, SP(I) member from West Bengal said that being a woman it is important to protest because courts and police stations are only for the rich and are dominated by men. Dr. Lubna Sarwath from Hyderabad also addressed the meeting with her inspiring words.
5. Adv Jija from Kerala also supported the Socialist Mahila Sabha and extended her complete solidarity. The meeting was attended by various women associated with SP(I) – Guddi ji, Sonika Krantiveer, Laxmi Valmiki, and others.
6. Dr. Sandeep Pandey ji oversaw the selection of office bearers for the Socialist Mahila Sabha. He also suggested that there should be an Internal Complaints committee made for addressing the complaints by any women from the party.
The list of office-bearers is as follows:
President: Varsha Gupte ji (continuing)
General Secretary: Dr. Peehu Pardeshi
West Bengal Representative: Ajanta Sarkar
UP Representative: Laxmi Valmiki
Maharashtra Representative: Sonika Krantiveer
Telangana Representative: Dr. Lubna Sarwath and Jaya ji
Delhi Representative: Bandana Pandey
Kerala Representative: Adv. Jija
7. It was decided that soon study circles will be started to increase our understanding of ideological positions. It was also suggested that we should celebrate birth and death anniversaries of the iconic women in the country.
8. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks by Dr. Peehu Pardeshi
Regards,
Dr. Peehu Pardeshi
