Maimoona Mollah
THE triennial conference of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), Delhi-NCR was held on May 3-4, 2025 at Surjeet Bhavan.
After the flag hoisting by Prof Indu Agnihotri, former president of AIDWA-Delhi and paying respects at the martyrs’ column, the inaugural session began with inspiring songs by Jana Natya Manch that filled the air with enthusiasm. Thereafter, AIDWA national president PK Sreemathi formally inaugurated the conference.
Salute to the women of Delhi! Salute to those daughters who did not bow down to oppression. Salute to those working women who, along with their work, also have the courage to resist. Expressing outrage at what P K Sreemathi described not merely as a policy failure, but as a consequence of the RSS-BJP regime, she called upon women to rise against injustice – because this is not just about injustice, but about a system built on oppression and exploitation. Such a system is unacceptable to us. Citing the example of Kerala’s alternative policies, she emphasized that where there is political will, pro-people governance and welfare policies are possible.
Our chief guest, Brinda Karat – who is not only our patron but has also served as the AIDWA-Delhi and AIDWA national general secretary – recalled the history of the organisation. She said that we began with a membership of 3,000 and have now grown to 30,000, but must expand much further. In the early days, our membership was primarily based in working-class bastis. The students who joined the organisation brought with them critical debates on the women’s question. These ideological debates must continue, as understanding the dominant trends of the past is essential to confronting the challenges of today. Our perspective on how we understand the world shapes the organisation itself. She condemned the blatant communalisation taking place in the country and urged us to firmly reject such tendencies and not allow them to grow.
In the delegate session that followed, AIDWA Delhi president Maimoona Mollah read the condolence resolution in which condolences were paid on the death of 26 people in the Pahalgam terrorist attack. Apart from this, tributes were paid to those comrades who left us in these three years. After a two-minute silence, AIDWA-Delhi general secretary Asha Sharma presented the three-year report. Talking about the increasing difficulties of the people due to the policies of the Modi government and the public anger arising from it – whether it is a question of giving protection to those who spread communalism and hatred or to those who commit violence against women and girls, the Modi government has failed, she said. About the activities in Delhi, she said that we protested after every incident but there is a need to intensify the fight for our rights by conducting continuous campaigns. There is a great need to strengthen the organisation and this work is not possible without keeping live contacts with the women.
While participating in the discussions on the report, the women expressed their outrage – there was a heated discussion on politics. Many delegates spoke of problems they face vis-à-vis livelihood issues, and said that all the promises made by the BJP government, both at the centre and in Delhi, turned out to be false. They said that as long as BJP is in power, public welfare is not possible, hence we will fight to remove this government.
The report was adopted unanimously.
The 15th conference decided on future campaigns – against communalism, violence against women, against oppression of dalits, for local issues such as sewage drainage, availability of drinking water, pension, etc.
There were five commission papers that were first discussed in groups and the discussions were reported in the plenary session – combatting violence against women and girls, new challenges of communalism, women’s employment and right to work, on National Education Policy and the state of health services in Delhi.
Three resolutions were passed – on public distribution system and right to freedom from hunger, civic amenities in Delhi, and on Palestine that condemned the genocide in Palestine by Zionist Israel with the full support of America and demanded an immediate ceasefire, and called upon the NDA government to support the people of Palestine.
Addressing the concluding session, AIDWA national general secretary, Mariam Dhawale appealed to the delegates that though membership is very important, just enrolling members is not enough. The process of inducting new comrades, young comrades must continue unabated. To be able to induct women, it is important to build a relationship with them – you need to treat them with affection and love, she said.
A new 39-member state committee was unanimously elected, which in turn elected a 13-member secretariat. With the current president and secretary having completed their three terms, they got relieved in accordance with the AIDWA constitution. New office bearers were elected with Asha Yadav as president, Kavita Sharma as general secretary, and Renu Sharma as treasurer.
Of the 103 delegates, three were 16-year-old girls. The majority – 75 – were married, and 49 were homemakers. In terms of class composition, 35 were working-class women. There were 17 Scheduled Caste, 14 OBC, and 37 Muslim women delegates. A significant number – 38 – were originally from Uttar Pradesh. Notably, 40 delegates were first-time participants, attending their first conference.
Apart from the official proceedings and the songs by Jan Natya Manch, the delegates sang and danced – there were folk songs, songs of the movement sung in chorus that made the conference lively and an event to remember. While parting, We Shall Overcome reverberated through the hall and the corridors.
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