FOR the entire duration of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, we were at Jantar Mantar, participating in the continuous dharna demanding the immediate implementation of 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies. Our demand was clear: implement women’s reservation now. Do not link it to the census or delimitation.

As the largest contingent of the National Coalition for Women’s Reservation (NCWR), AIDWA participated every single day. For us, this was also significant because it was the first time that we had joined a continuous dharna throughout an entire session of Parliament.

The demand for one-third reservation for women has a history of more than three decades. The women’s movement has fought this battle unitedly, advancing, facing setbacks and beginning again. From the Bill introduced by Comrade Geeta Mukherjee in 1996 to its passage in the Rajya Sabha in 2010, women’s organisations and progressive forces kept the demand alive. The passage of the Bill in the Rajya Sabha in 2010, when Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister, was a historic moment. Our leader Brinda Karat, along with Sonia Gandhi, Najma Heptulla and several other women leaders, played an important role in that period. BJP leader and then Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj also congratulated Brinda Karat and others after the passage of the Bill, rising above party lines in recognition of the importance of the issue.

Yet the Bill could not pass the Lok Sabha

When the BJP came to power, women’s reservation was among its major promises. But five years passed without action. After returning to power in 2019, the government again took no initiative. Finally, just before the elections, it passed the Women’s Reservation Act with much fanfare, naming it Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. But alongside the celebration came the condition that its implementation would depend upon the census and delimitation. 

The women’s movement and the Opposition had immediately warned that these conditions could indefinitely postpone implementation. Those apprehensions have proved correct. Neither the census nor the delimitation process has taken place, yet the government continues to pursue its own political agenda around the expansion and redistribution of parliamentary seats.

The BJP has also been trying to secure the two-thirds majority required for the amendments it wants to push through. Its methods have been visible to the entire country. It broke away almost the entire parliamentary strength of the Trinamool Congress, engineered a split in the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray and brought over MPs, and tried to manufacture the required numbers by offering different promises to different parties. The intention was clear: somehow obtain the two-thirds majority and push through its agenda during the Monsoon Session.

But the BJP forgot one thing: authoritarianism does not have the final word.

It was in this situation that the united women’s movement once again took to the streets. Different women’s organisations, NGOs and concerned citizens came together under the National Coalition for Women’s Reservation (NCWR). At its call, an indefinite dharna was organised at Jantar Mantar.

And what a sight it was.

Women who are present in every sphere of life were demanding their rightful share in the institutions where decisions are made. Women work in homes, educational institutions, offices, courts, agriculture, construction and factories. They drive autos and fly aircraft. They carry an enormous burden of paid and unpaid labour and contribute immensely to the economy. Yet when it comes to Parliament and State Assemblies, they are told to wait. How long must women remain confined within the barriers of patriarchy?

India ranks 151st among 185 countries in terms of women’s representation in Parliament, with women’s representation still below 13 per cent. And yet the government expects women to wait.

We said: No more waiting. Delink women’s reservation from the census and delimitation and implement it immediately.

From July 20 onwards, women gathered at Jantar Mantar despite repeated police restrictions. On July 20, we participated in the march despite the police prohibitions. From the following day onwards, we stood at Jantar Mantar alongside hundreds of young people. There was no proper stage, no permanent shelter and, at times, not even protection from the scorching sun or torrential rain. But the absence of facilities could not extinguish the determination of the protesters.

At the same time, a powerful wave of student and youth protest was sweeping through the country. CJP and SFI, AISA, AISF, along with several thousands and lakhs of young warriors and young adults, were raising their voices on questions of education, employment, democracy and their future. Their unprecedented participation added a new energy to the atmosphere at Jantar Mantar.

The slogan “Mahila Arakshan Hum Lekar Rahenge” rang out through the dharna. At the same time, the young protesters were raising slogans demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan. The two struggles seemed to merge into one another at Jantar Mantar, as women joined their voices in solidarity with the young protesters. The women of Haryana gave their own warning: “Modi, mahila ki taqat jaan le—boriya bistar baandh le.” The young generation, in turn, came forward to tell us: this is a struggle that must be fought, and we are with you. A Class XII student asked why the government would not give women reservation and how much more injustice women would have to face.

The fast undertaken by Sonam Wangchuk was another expression of the growing democratic assertion of citizens who refuse to remain silent when their rights and aspirations are denied.
 
Jantar Mantar resonated across India! A demand for Justice: nobody knows what’s one’s age, what place a person is coming from, what’s the person’s religion or gender or caste or creed.  Women from Haryana arrived before dawn, packing rotis and pickles before leaving home. Women travelled from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Maharashtra and Odisha sent representatives. Kerala came from the distant south to share the heat of the struggle. West Bengal brought the energy of its own long tradition of struggle to the protest, arriving at ground zero with the intensity of its own movement.

Women arrived with mehendi written on their hands: “Mahila Arakshan Lagu Kar—Aaj Kar, Abhi Kar.”

They raised their voices: “Bol Sathiyo Halla Bol, Sansad Sun Le Aise Bol!” and “Panchayat Mein Aaye Hain, Sansad Mein Bhi Aayenge!”

The heat, the rain and the long hours could not deter them. A woman accustomed to walking long distances carrying water does not fear standing under the sun. Even when torrential rain drenched the protesters, they refused to move. Their clenched fists rose towards the sky as the slogans grew louder.

Who did not come to express solidarity? Students, peasants and workers—all came and gave a firm commitment to stand with the women.

The presence of leaders further strengthened the dharna. MPs Amra Ram, John Brittas and V. Sivadasan came to express solidarity. Our beloved leader Brinda Karat joined us on several days, while veteran leader Syeda Hameed also came.

One day, a little girl studying in Upper KG came holding her father’s hand. She climbed into our arms and waved her hands to the rhythm of the slogans. At that moment, it felt as though the meaning of the struggle was captured in that small gesture. The fight for equality belongs not only to the women standing at Jantar Mantar today, but also to the generations that will inherit the India we build.

Jantar Mantar came alive with slogans, songs, dances, street plays and speeches. The heat of the struggle was carried forward not only by the women who came from different states but also by those who came to stand with them.

The impact of the dharna reached Parliament. Alongside the daily protest, representatives of the NCWR met leaders of the Congress, RJD, Samajwadi Party, Biju Janata Dal, DMK, TVK, CPI(M), CPI and CPI(ML) and submitted memoranda. They expressed their support for our demand.

Amra Ram raised our issue in Parliament. On the basis of our petition, CPI(M) MP Satchithanantham from Tamil Nadu wrote to the Prime Minister. Based on the petition submitted by us, TVK moved a resolution in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, which was supported by the DMK.

The BJP’s attempt to somehow secure the two-thirds majority required for its proposed amendments failed. It could not bring forward the legislation it had intended to push through. This is the success of our movement. This is the success of the continuous dharna. One stage has been crossed, but the struggle is not over.

We do not want token gestures. We do not want symbolic recognition. We want our rightful share. We want our participation. We want women to have an equal voice in the institutions where the future of the country is decided.

The women of India have waited long enough. We will continue to fight. We will take this struggle as far as necessary.

We are not asking for a favour. We are demanding our democratic right. We will fight till the end. That is our pledge.