THE Asia Bibi case in Pakistan and the recent developments on it, should serve as a warning for us in India. The relevance for us in India, although it happened in entirely different circumstances, is that it was triggered by blatant defiance and opposition to a landmark Supreme Court judgement by zealots operating in the guise of defending religion and religious sentiment.

WHILE more and more instances of sexual harassment and assault are being reported under “Me Too” movement from various walks of life, there is enough reason to believe that it is merely the tip that is beginning to get visible and that the huge bergs of deeply embedded gender bias and discrimination and the ‘larger fishes’ involved in sexual assault continue to sprawl underground. Yet even this ‘tip’ has wider implications, as it spreads its tentacles from the world of Bollywood and news media to art, politics, business, sports and literally every nook and corner on earth.

THE All India Democratic Women’s Association, in a statement issued on October 10, has expressed its deep outrage over the sexual abuse and trauma that a number of women in the field of media have suffered. Some of them have broken their silence recently and come out with shocking complaints of sexual harassment and assault against leading media personalities. It salutes the brave women who have come forth to challenge the prevailing patriarchal norms which indict the victim rather than the perpetrator in such cases.

THE All India Democratic Women’s Association, in a statement issued on September 20, has expressed its strong protest over the promulgation of the Triple Talaq ordinance by the central government on September 19, 2018. The ordinance is an attempt to undermine the democratic process since many organisations, including AIDWA, had demanded that the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017, pending in the Rajya Sabha, should be referred to a select committee for further discussion and debate before being brought in as a law.

THE All India Democratic Women’s Association, in a statement issued on September 15, has welcomed the SC judgement on Section 498A IPC to the extent that it does away with the constitution of family welfare committees ordered by the SC in the Rajesh Sharma case. These committees were meant to look into and examine all cases of domestic abuse and harassment for dowry under 498A IPC before an FIR could be registered. The SC has rightly held that the constitution of such committees and giving them powers is erroneous and impermissible and not in accordance with the law.