AIPWA observed International Women’s Day with a Sankalp March in Patna from the Radio Station to Gandhi Maidan. Hundreds of women from different blocks of Patna district participated in the march, raising slogans demanding 33% reservation for women in the Parliament and state legislative assemblies, rollback of sedition charges on JNU students, implementation of total prohibition in Bihar and government employee status for temporary ‘honorarium’ workers. The march was led by AIPWA national General Secretary Meena Tiwari, national Secretary Kavita Krishnan, national Vice President Prof. Bharti S Kumar, Bihar State President SarojChoube, Secretary ShashiYadav, Joint Secretary Anita Sinha, Tulika Asthana from Bhubaneshwar, Kusum Verma from Banaras, Patna AIPWA leaders Damyanti Sinha, Madhuri Gupta, Anuradha Singh, Vibha Gupta, Sona Devi and others.The march culminated in a meeting at Kargil Chowk in Gandhi Maidan.
Addressing the meeting, comrade MeenaTiwari said that communal forces are playing the politics of frenzy and destruction in the country today. From Hyderabad Central University to JNU, Lucknow and Allahabad University, they are not just murdering democracy but also smothering students’ voices by slapping false cases of sedition on them. She further said that the women’s reservation Bill has been pending for the last 20 years but they do not consider this important or a priority. Incidents of violence against women are moreover on the rise under the JD(U)-RJD-Congress government in Bihar which has come into power with a large majority; MLAs of the ruling Parties are implicated in rapes but they have not even been arrested. The government which had promised total prohibition is now talking of prohibition in phases; they are also going back on their word by now saying it will be done first in villages and then in cities. Various speakers pointed outthat honorarium workers have not been given the status of government employees. Their right to fight panchayat elections has been taken away. Their votes were garnered in the elections by increasing their honorarium by a mere 25%. The proceedings of the meeting were conducted by Comrade Anita Sinha. It was declared at the meeting that AIPWA and Bihar Rajya Vidyalaya Rasoiya Sangh would jointly organize a protest at the Chief Minister’s office on 18 March 2016 to press for the above demands.
On Women’s Day, an all-women’s cultural team, Chorus, was inaugurated. This all-women’s team was an initiative of the revolutionary poet Maheshwar, and has been revived now. Comrade Samta Rai will be the convenor of the Chorus team. Chorus staged Premchand’s Manovritti and also presented various songs. Theatre artist Maya Krishna Rao also presented a version of her legendary performance ‘Walk’.
