Skip to main content

Naliya sex scam is tip of the iceberg: What kind of International Women’s Day are we celebrating in Gujarat?

By Dwarika Nath Rath*
8th March, the International Women’s Day, always comes in a year to make firm pledge for the rights of the women. The women all over the world come forward to raise voice against the discrimination of women, sexploitation, which has become the order in the era of liberalization, privatization and globalization or LPG.
The concept of socialist women is becoming a vanishing concept. The historical significance of women’s day is diluted by promoting consumerism and promoting women as sex object by the corporate world. The dignity of working women is purposefully undermined. As May Day is the working class day, so also the 8th March is known as International working women’s day which has been deliberately used as International Women’s Day only. But the honour of women has been shadowed by governments and the corporate world.
In Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is celebrating the day in Gandhinagar. He is addressing the elected women sarpanches of India. He wants to celebrate the empowerment of women. Who does not know the women elected sarpanchs are the “yes yes” ones only, devoid of freedom. They are the worst victim of saffronisation, growing communalism and enchained in the so-called sacred spiritual, superstitions by organised holy organisations sponged by the ruling parties.
The slogan of this All-India Sarpanch Sammelan is Swacch Shakti, and what does it imply!
As Prime Minister, Modi is celebrating women’s day, the women of Ahmedabad and in the adjacent places there are facing prohibitory orders issued by the police on procession, meetings, congregation etc. Women’s organisations are not being allowed to celebrate women’s day in public places. The prohibitory order stands till 11th March. So in Ahmedabad there won’t be any public programmes on 8th March or thereafter.
As a matter of fact, it can be termed as the Modi-fied Women’s Day.
Remember, this Modi-fied women’s day is being celebrated in Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinager, in the backdrop of the shameful Naliya sex racket, which has exposed the direct and indirect involvement of hosts of persons belonging to the ruling BJP. Schemes are going on to sabotage enquiry into the racket. An atmosphere is created to scare the 35 women victims of the sex racket, in which about 65 persons are involved. A vigilantism is pursued, such that no one open their mouth.
Naliya sex racket is only tip in the iceberg.
Ironically Modi has not spoken a single word on the Naliya sex racket, though he so enthusiastically tweets on trivial issues.
Under the BJP rule in Gujarat, sexploitation has been rampant, whether it is Patan or Parul, where persons enjoying the clout of the rung party are licensed to commit crime on women. Now this sex racket has come to light. There may be so many Naliyas.
It is a matter of grave concern that sexploitation in Gujarat is becoming an epidemic. There is no sight of cessation. After the exposure of Naliya sex racket, about seven incidents of rape by powerful persons have come lime light only in the district of Kutch.
Several incidents have also been recorded throughout Gujarat within this short span of time about women’s oppression. Why? Perhaps because the predators of sex crimes are enjoying the impunity of the government and the administration. Figures of sex crimes are increasing day by day, but more than 90% of the crimes go unrecorded. The reasons are social as well as those related to fear.
Voices of protest are being gagged, freedom is being suppressed. Women as the second sex are pushed to the market forces.
So wither the women in Gujarat? How safe are they?
And what kind of International Women’s Day are we celebrating in Gujarat?
---
*With Socialist Unity Centre of India

Comments

Aarti said…
Gujarat is a land of silence now. No one speaks, no one hears. If you try to speak, they will detain you.

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.