SocietyNews Feminist News Wrap – Iron Sharmila To End Fast, Dalit Rally In Gujarat, Mahasweta Devi Passes Away

Feminist News Wrap – Iron Sharmila To End Fast, Dalit Rally In Gujarat, Mahasweta Devi Passes Away

A quick update of feminist news in the last week.

An FIR was registered against Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat on Saturday for raping a 32-year-old woman in the national capital on the pretext of getting her a job. Apparently this is not the first such complaint against him.

In Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court has said the State cannot say paying compensation to survivors of rape will overburden its coffers.

In the Dalit rally at Gujarat (post the violent attack on 4 Dalit youths by “gau rakshaks”), a pledge was taken that they will no longer pick up cow carcasses. And, in Shimoga, Karnataka, Dalits protested against Banjrang Dal goondas by eating beef on the roads. It will also be important to read how the gau rakshaks and police work in tandem with each other.

A Delhi court found Peepli Live co-director Mahmood Farooqui guilty of rape of an American scholar. It is also important to read this piece of analysis on the conviction about whether the victory tastes sweet after all.

Writer & activist, Mahasweta Devi passed away last week. Her story on Draupadi and this reminder of being introduced to her writing should help you know more about her.

Irom Sharmila, who has been protesting for the last 16 years for repealing AFSPA, has finally decided to end her fast. Although she is ending her fast, she is not ending her political struggle for justice & democracy. She fasted for 16 years to show that there can be no normal life as long as AFSPA exists, and now the burden is on all of us.

Here is the full five-part investigation “Operation #BabyLift” on how the Sangh Parivar flouted every Indian and international law on child right to traffic 31 young tribal girls from Assam to Punjab and Gujarat to ‘Hinduise’ them.

What We’re Reading

Why offering witness protection to rape survivors is a must.

Disclosing the identity of rape victim remains a grey area in the justice system.

Why the 45-year-old abortion law needs to change.

How to de-objectify women in comics – a guide.


Featured Image Credit: A picture from a Dalit rally at Ahmedabad | scroll.in

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