India - Public Meeting against Attacks on Women and Overall Criminalization of Society

Madhyamgram Janakalyan Manch (adjacent to Madhyamgram Railway Station)
Friday, April 25, from 5 pm
Organized by
Nari Nirjatan o Durbrittayan Birodhi Gana Manch
in association with Kamduni Pratibadi Manch.
Kamduni, Madhyamgram, Gede, Barasat, Sutia….various parts of north 24 Parganas district has been witness to brutal rapes and attacks on women over the past months. And people who have been protested against them, be they the brother of the victim, or a conscientious school teacher responsible for building resistance against the crimes, or school friends of the victim, they have been silenced either by murdering or by state repression or by harassment from the ruling party. There is an overall process of criminalization going on, in which the perpetrators of these crimes are moving around with impunity under the patronage of the political bosses. This is in a microcosm the reflection of the state of affairs in all districts of West Bengal. In this backdrop we are having the Lok Sabha elections, but these issues are getting lost in the cacophony raised by the major political parties taking part in the elections, for whom the only matter of importance is getting votes. And the same criminals are very important for getting the votes, hence the protection extended to them. However, we cannot keep silent when this is happening. As citizens of West Bengal, we have come forward to oppose the attacks on women and the overall criminalization of our society. We have decided to stand beside all those who are protesting against and resisting these processes, in small towns and villages of West Bengal. We want the people to expose the unconcern, the neglect, and the opportunism of the big political parties when they come asking for votes. Towards this aim, we have organized a public meeting in Madhyamgram, jointly with the Kamduni pratibadi mancha and other organizations, where we want to put these questions openly to the electoral candidates standing for elections in north 24 parganas: Why haven’t we got justice for the victims of the rapes and murders yet? Why are the perpetrators of these crimes still rampaging round under political protection? Why haven’t been the police officials guilty of negligence been punished? Why haven’t the basic demands of the people concerning the security of women, lights on roads, public transportation, been met yet? Why hasn’t a clear message gone out to the criminals that they will not be tolerated.
In order to put these questions strongly and to bring attention to these issues of grave public importance please join the meeting and ask your friends and associates to come.
Contacts:
Dr. Partho Sarothi Ray
Pradip Mukherjee