THE 20th state conference of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) was held on November 1-2, 2022 at Agartala. The open session held on November 1 at the Town Hall, was attended by delegates coming from different parts of the state. Representatives from other mass organisations were also present in the session.

The conference started with flag hoisting by the AIDWA state president Ramani Deb Barma. Thereafter floral tributes were paid to the martyrs who laid down their lives for the cause of people. The delegate session started after that. However, the opening speech of AIDWA all India general secretary Mariam Dhawale was open to all.

The conference was also attended by AIDWA all India president Malini Bhattacharya, vice president Rama Das and other leaders. The presidium included Ramani Deb Barma, Krishna Rakshit, Rehana Begum, Archana Das and Sandhya Deb Barma. In the inaugural speech, Mariam Dhawale conveyed her heartfelt congratulations to the delegates for taking the organisation ahead in spite of relentless fascist attacks unleashed by the ruling BJP. She told that the fight for saving Tripura from the clutches of RSS-BJP is very important in view of the struggle to save the whole country from the fascist forces. Those who opposed the freedom struggle by helping the British, are now teaching us the lesson of patriotism, she said. It is very much essential to defeat the fascist forces represented by the RSS-BJP and their leaders including Narendra Modi, for saving the nation. She mentioned about the downslide of economy and deterioration in the employment scenario. The current regime prefers to remain busy privatising and selling national assets. While the rich continue to gather more and more wealth, the plight of the poor people is heading for a disaster. She also mentioned about the growing marginalisation of women during the present regime.

On November 2, the delegate session was addressed by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and leader of opposition of the state Manik Sarkar. He reminded the delegates that the most important task of the moment is to organise people against the fascist regime. He mentioned in his speech that the gifts of the BJP-led governments at the centre and at the state to the people included unprecedented price rise, record breaking downfall of rupee, abysmal fall in employment, police atrocities on peaceful protests, near total breakage of roads and avenues, attack on democratic institutions and norms, hooliganism, fascist terror and heinous crimes on women. He mentioned that these problems can never be addressed with the BJP in the government. First we have to liberate the state and the country from the clutches of the BJP-RSS. Common people are completely disillusioned with the BJP. It is our responsibility to organise people on their issues to create an enormous wave against this anti-people government, he said.

Addressing the conference, AIDWA all India president Malini Bhattacharya called for a sustained ideological battle to build a civilised society and to regain our democratic rights. The battle of Tripura is not separate from that of the whole country. The BJP is an enemy of the people, an enemy of the nation. The struggle against them is being strengthened throughout the country. Women’s movement in Tripura has got a very bright and proud history. Even during the king’s rule, women of Tripura fought hard against the exploitative Titun system. She expressed confidence that women of Tripura would definitely be successful in overthrowing this government.

AIDWA all India vice president Rama Das told in her speech that the women must take a leading role in defeating the authoritarian regime. The women of the state would continue their struggle, not only for work and food, but also for regaining their rights.

Chairman of the conference preparatory committee Pabitra Kar also spoke in this session. He told that the authoritarian government can only be unseated by the Left. As the assembly election is approaching, everyone should now concentrate on the booth level organisation.

A total of 430 delegates coming from different parts of the state participated in the conference. A new state committee comprising 97 members was constituted in the last session. Ramani Deb Barma and Swapna Datta were elected as president and secretary, respectively. Rama Das, Jharna Das, Krishna Rakshit and Sathi Bhattacharya were elected as four vice presidents, while Gayatri Datta, Jasmine Sultana and Dasharani Tripura were elected as three assistant secretaries. The conference generated encouraging response among women.

Rising Crime Exposes BJP Govt’s Propaganda

Haripada Das

BELYING the BJP government’s claim of “Har Ghar Sushashan”, Tripura has been reporting a series of ghastly incidents of rape and gang-rape. From teen-aged girls to aged women – none is spared by savage criminals. And, most of the perpetrators are either activists of the ruling party or members of their families who hardly have any fear of law. Along with other crimes, the graph of crime against women has been spiralling high to an alarming extent. Naturally, people are very much worried about the degeneration of a section of people of the state under the umbrella of the ruling BJP. Most of the print and electronic media are expressing concern about the spite against women. 

In the ten days since October 19, Tripura has witnessed a series of rape and gang-rape incidents. The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), Left student and youth organisations and CPI(M) units throughout the state organised protest demonstrations against these incidents and condemned the police failure to act and take appropriate legal actions against the perpetrators irrespective of their political background. 

Apart from the recent spurt in heinous crimes against women, the graph of average crime against women in the state is also alarming. In reply to a question in the sssembly, the home minister of the state said last September that between January 1, 2020 and August 19 this year, 2,164 complaints of crime against women were recorded.  Of these, 407 were complaints of rape and gang-rape and seven were of murder after rape/gang-rape. In the first eight months of this year, 28 women were killed and 63 teen-aged girls had gone missing. 

The state has a women’s commission with a large office building in the heart of the city. But the victim women of the state hardly know of any step the commission has taken in any of the incidents during the BJP rule.  

Manik Sarkar, leader of the opposition and Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M), talking about the recent incidents of crime against women, said that during the Left Front regime, it was mandatory for the police station to record FIR of any woman who goes there with any complaint without any question that may embarrass her. The actual number of crimes can be much more than the figure furnished by the government in the assembly, because the victim women are now scared of local mandal leaders who threaten and coerce them to negotiate the matter with the criminals and feel discouraged to report because of the lenient role of the police towards the criminals who have connections with ruling parties. In many cases, the victim women felt disgusted to see police officers gossiping with criminals in the police station, against whom they had gone to lodge complaints.