WE LOOK INTO THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF OPPRESSION

Brinda Karat, general secretary of All India Democratic Women’s Association, speaks to Osama Manzar on her concerns.

In your new responsibility as a member of the CPI(M) Central Committee, what are the issues that you plan to take up?
Basically, it is not really a question of an individual at all. Our organisation is very much based on collective effort and understanding. An individual comes and goes but our organisation has been in existence for many years. Now the only question is how far together we are able to take the movement for ward. We have a membership of over 40 lakhs in 18 states of India, contrary to the fact that our female population is on decline.
What kind of problems do you usually tackle?
In our society we do not see women as a homogenous group. So, we are looking into different manifestations of oppression. For instance, we address the problems of working women, also those belonging to a particular class in society such as the exploitation of women as workers, her lack of rights to property and so on. We cover aspects of social and domestic violence as well.
For this we are running over 120 legal centres in the country. We also organise many agitations on questions related to social harassment. Apart from this, we are looking into the effect of macro- government policies on women.
Where have you been more successful, towai effecting the government policies or working at the grassroot level?
I believe that one is linked to the other. We cannot be effective in changing the policies or challenging macro-policies unless we have social mobilisation of women at the level at which they are living.
Similarly, you cannot really analyse the impact of police decisions on women unless you understand and completely identify the needs of women as they exist.
Can you substantiate your claim of working at the grass roots level and winning for them a change in macro- government policy?
Yes, take the case of joint pattas. Our organisation has been working in the district of Miclnapur in West Bengal and in this single district, in the last six months, we have been successful in registering over 7,000 joint pattas in the names of the women there. So, we have been successful in getting women land rights.
Recently, the Supreme Court has passed a judgment for the implementation of the uniform civil code. What is your reaction?
We appreciate certain aspects of the Supreme Court judgement which has come down hard on religious conversions for the purpose of bigamy.
The judgement takes the Government to task for not implementing the spirit of section 44 of the Constitution. By pointing out the need for a “suitable climate” it has distanced itself from the need for the Immediate implementation of a uniform civil code.
For the Beijing world confer ence on women, don’t you think that instead of so many NGOs representations from India, it Is adequate to have just one?
This Is a very valid and relevent question because, it Is not the question of numbers, but it Is the question, of what is the point of view and approach which is going to be given. Are we going to be able to present a united point of view? It is towards this only, that seven national women’s organisations have taken the Initiative to prepare an approach paper on nine major issues facing the Indian. women as we see them.
These are the issues which are directly Impacting on women’s life and are of direct concern to the Indian women’s movement.
What Is this booklet you are bringing out?
We have been able to reach a consensus on issues which we have now ‘put ‘together In a booklet, alongwith our recommendations.
This booklet, which Is due In the next month, has been endorsed by a very large number of women’s groups and organisations throughout the country. Now, we are going to make that booklet available to everybody who is going to Beijing from India, and we hope that when these issues are discussed, it will help all those individuals, from India, to take a - common position.
In today’s situation what we are saying is that the slogan of sisterhood needs to be redefined and expanded. We cannot take it for granted as the slogan of sisterhood which was there, say 20.years ago, when there. was a feeling that sisterhood Was purely biological.