A memorial lecture was organized by AIPWA-CPI(ML) on 8 June 2015, in Mansa (Punjab) to mark the 8th death anniversary of the national leader of AIPWA and CPI(ML), Com. Jeeta Kaur. The topic of the lecture was – ‘Policies of the Modi government and the situation of women’. Several hundred women attended this memorial, organized by the Mansa district unit of AIPWA in Bachat Bhawan. The lecture was chaired by noted playwright and daughter of thinker Gurusharan Singh, Dr. Areet. Others in the chairing committee included Prof. Kanwaljeet Kaur Dhillon, Harbans Kaur Acharwaal, tej Kaur Bhupaal, Beant Kaur Taamkot. Referring to the Badal Govt and family that has been running the State Govt, she said that not only had they sidelined the humanitarian ideals propounded by the various Sikh gurus, they had also pushed the women of the state towards seeking refuge in paraphernalia and superstitions.
The chief speaker on the occasion, Prof. Kanwaljeet Singh Dhillon, who has been active in movements for women rights since very long, said that acting on the directives of the RSS, the Modi government was trying very hard to propagate a culture that is against the women, dalits and the religious minorities. She said that because of the pro-corporate policies of the government, in Punjab as also in the rest of the country, the incidents of honour killing, female foeticide, violence against women, and sexual assaults against women had been increasing. She emphasised on the need for women to be educated by saying that literacy was the first step towards awakening and uniting. The other leaders who also spoke on the occasion invoked the women to join the struggle since the women will themselves have to enter the struggle for social, economic and political equality.
