The 10th National Conference of AIDWA is being held in the historic city of Bodh Gaya, Bihar, from Nov 22nd to 25th 2013. The 4 day conference will be preceded by a mass rally and public meeting on Nov 21st at Azad maidan, Gaya, which will be addressed by Ms. Brinda Karat, Ms Subhashini Ali, Ms. Sudha Sundararaman, and other leaders of AIDWA. Nearly 50,000 women from Bihar, and the adjoining districts of Jharkhand, and W. Bengal are expected to participate in the public rally.
On Nov 22nd morning, the conference will be inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Tripura, Shri Manik Sarkar. The open session will be presided over by AIDWA President Shyamali Gupta, who will host the conference flag. The Condolence Resolution for leaders of the democratic movement who have passed away in this period will include the martyrs who have been killed by anti socials of the TMC in W. Bengal
A special session on women who have resisted violence bravely, have fought for justice and citizenship rights, who have still not given up their struggle, will be held. Ms Brinda Karat will felicitate these courageous fighters, and address the conference highlighting the issues underlying the current escalation in violence against women. The women being felicitated include:
Shamima Kausar, whose daughter, Ishrat Jahan, was killed in a police encounter in Gujarat, under Narendra Modi’s Chief Minister ship;
The tribal women from Vachathi, Tamil nadu who refused to accept defeat for 19 long years, and finally got the forest guards guilty of mass rape convicted for their crime;
Sushila Devi from Bihar who challenged the land mafia, and corrupt officials in a collective battle for ownership rights to pattas in Darbhanga district,
A dalit rape survivor from Haryana whose fight for justice is still ongoing;
Manwara bibi from W. Bengal who challenged the antisocial goons of TMC and fought the panchayat elections, despite the murder of her husband and threats to her life;
Arunima Sinha from UP, who lost her limbs while resisting sexual assault, but who climbed Mt. Everest in a rare show of courage and determination.
A Resolution against communalism, and the political challenges before the women’s movement will be placed by the Gen. Secretary, Sudha Sundararaman.
Leaders from national women’s organizations like AIDMAM, YWCA, CWDS, will greet the conference.
In the delegate sessions, the 900 delegates who have been elected from 22 states will discuss and deliberate on the developments over the past three years, and how they impinge on women. The interventions and struggles by AIDWA over this period, and the organizational situation will also be reviewed. There will also be parallel sessions around 7 commission papers, highlighting issues of immediate concern for the women’s movement. These are: Gender Budgeting- The Indian Experience, The Corporatisation Of Health Care – An Assault On Public Health Systems, Women, Work And Employment, Women And The Conservative Backlash In Society And Media, Women And Panchayat Raj, Muslim Women In India – Living With Growing Insecurities, Education - A Right Of Women.
Publications being released at the Conference include: Gender Concerns And Strategies In The Resistance To Globalisation by Brinda Karat; Against Imperialism For socialism- three years of struggle by Subhashini Ali, Torch Bearers of AIDWA – AIDWA Publication , Gender & Neoliberalism by Elizabeth Armstrong
A new leadership will be elected for the next 3 years on the final day. The Conference will adopt various resolutions to carry forward the struggles of women around pertinent concerns. The Conference pledges to take forward the following priorities which have been identified as immediate challenges before the women’s movement in the current scenario: Confronting neo liberalism, fighting conservatism, combating communalism, and asserting women’s right to a violence free society.
