We are going to celebrate 114th International Working Women’s Day at a time when on one hand Brahmanical Hindutva Fascism has spread its tentacles in every sphere of life, and on the other hand, Imperialism has intensified its exploitative measures on oppressed people and nations. Now we are under the yoke of two monstrous terrors. Brahmanical patriarchy is an Indian peculiar chamber of horrors. In a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, where women are forced to live in this chamber of horrors then what is the value of constitution and fundamental rights. Women face multitudes of economic and extra economic exploitations which goes unpunished and male domination barricades it from the general sight of society. Whether it is the war-torn regions of West Asia, Palestine or in Ukraine or, whether it is in the garment factories of Dhaka, the valley of Manipur or the forest belts of central India, women everywhere is facing the burn of imperialist crises. In India, the condition of women is not sublime as propagated by the BJP fascist Narendra Modi. Brahmanical Hindutva Fascism with the support of Imperialism provides impetus strength to one of the most inhuman form of social hierarchical system that transforms women into an object of ‘pleasure’ and exploitation.
Finance capital for its valorization requires a unified market, cheap source of labor power and abundant natural resources. Women oppression in the age of moribund Capitalism is interrelated with finance capital autocracy. Unable to see this attached strings, will be like punching in the dark. There is no doubt that Capitalism in its free-trade; manufacturing period brought significant number of women from the dark dungeons of household to factories. Due to this unprecedented expansion of social production, working class women movements came on the scene that gave birth to subjectivity of women’s rights movements. Capitalism wherever it got upper did away with some feudal patriarchal values but Capitalism gave birth to new form of patriarchal values that devalue the labour of women. Bourgeois democracy that is based on glaring social and economic inequalities have failed to give complete equality to women (the half of the human race) and to men. Bourgeois republic only in words it promises equality to women but it in reality sustains the oppressive patriarchy system that looks down on women. Capitalist society turns every object into commodity and women are not an exception and actually she faces it many forms. Bourgeois deceitful phrases consoles women only in her imagination but in reality those phrases denies the existence of Individuality to women which leads absence of democratic rights. In Manuvadi system woman is considered not as a free being. Right from birth to death she must be under the domination of male. Right to own productive forces especially land and right over reproduction sphere has been denied by the ruling classes in India.
Pro-Imperialist and Feudal Comprador Bureaucratic Bourgeois policies of the BJP government have broken the back of women dignity and her democratic rights. Displacement due to corporate-driven development model has taken away all necessities of life from the marginalized classes. Women and children particularly from the tribal communities who come under the PVTG are the worst sufferer of the problem of displacement in India. Casualization and contarctualization of the labor force in India proves to be an efficient means for the extraction of profits by Imperialist and CBB led development model of the Indian state. This led to the in-formalization of the workforce in the unorganized sector that is significantly composed by cheap women workforce. Concentration and centralization of capital in the era of Imperialism has crossed the red marks. This again has brought havoc on the normal life of the oppressed people especially of women. Lakhs of small scale industries were force to shut down during the 10 years of Modi-kaal. Consequence of it was the significant rise in the army of reserve labour. It was woman who has to carry the burden of unemployment under her head as majority of workforce in small scale industries are composed of women sex. As the source of income became miniscule due to apathetic economic condition, percentage of women trafficking and prostitution has raised its ugly head after the horrific lock down. All these factors are leading towards feminization of rural work force that reinforces Brahmanical patriarchy with more intensity.
Sexual exploitation and economic exploitation of women goes hand in hand, due to social ills they are inseparable. At present most of the cheap agricultural labor is carried by women and at the same time they face sexual exploitation by landlords and moneylenders.According to the World Bank Labor Force participation Report (2022), only 24 percent of women in India are gainfully employed. Retrenchments of workforce from IT companies have become the norm in the time when capitalism is going through general crisis. Most of the retrenched employees in IT sectors are women employees. Even the wisdom of the IT giants that is based on finance capital is not free from patriarchy. This rightly proves that hegemony of capital in social production and the presence private ownership of production forces will continue the patriarchal domination in society. As per as Global Gender Gap parity report 2023, India stands at 127th position out of 146 countries in gender parity index. There is no question of women empowerment until the country remains in the shackles of Imperialism. Economic crises intensify the patriarchal violence in society and it is established by the fact that more than 4 lakh cases relating domestic violence is hanging in the courts. Today, illiteracy is highest among the women in India. Out of every 100 women, we can find more than 30 illiterate women. Due to commodification of education that serves the education corporate giants, schooling right from elementary to higher studies are becoming out of reach for the downdrotten classes.The drop out rate from schools and colleges is also highest among the women. All these are the effects of Pro-Imperialist and CBB policies of the BJP regime.
As the General election of 2024 is itching closer, the ruling classes political parties has not left any stone unturned to cajole the masses for its electoral benefits that remains in the service of CBB and Imperialism. At this time it is the RSS- BJP which has taken the central stage for advertising its facade pro-women stand. RSS-BJP is extremely busy in propagating the so- called women empowerment policies (Nari Shakti Vandana) of Narendra Modi’s government. Nothing can be more hilarious than to hear from the mouth of fascist about gender justice and women empowerment. Echoes of applause and reverence are being showered by liberal feminists on Narendra Modi for his outstanding effort to pass the women reservation bill from the house that was stuck-up for more than 27 years and for blocking the bill for long 27 years BJP-RSS had played prominent role. Lot of dust has already gathered over the women’s reservation bill as it has taken long 27 years to arrive at the present point. Still taking such a long protracted journey, it has finally turned into ineffective and contemptuous towards women gender. To include delimitation and census clause in the bill itself proclaims that BJP has no real interest in the bill. The act will come into effect “after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken for this purpose after the relevant figures for the first census taken after commencement of the Constitution (128 amendment) act have been published…” The BJP government has not conducted 2021 census on many pretexts. The government is running without the knowledge of the facts about the socio-economic condition of people. All its programs are nothing but talk in air; hence it carries not a single grain of truth but fallacious propaganda.
It is been projected by the liberal feminists and RSS- BJP clans that this bill aspires to bring more women in the upper echelons of power that will promulgate pro-women policies and a gender just society. This is the ruling classes and fascist’s treacherous design to cook consent for continuation of its hegemonic and coercive dominance over the masses. In socially and economically backward country like India, working class women, peasantry women and women from oppressed castes and communities are the most exploited being in society. Both economic and social exploitation remains an integral part of women in India. Such exploitation of women is carried out under the guise of democracy and women empowerment. Imperialist- finance capitalism has kept our country in shackles that has denied all forms of development.
The Indian ruling classes in alliance with Imperialism has negated the democratic revolution that remains a necessary precondition to break the glass ceilings of patriarchy. As the entire Godi Media was masquerading about women’s reservation act in its prime time show, a Dalit woman was stripped in public and then urinated by the upper caste just because she was unable to pay 1200 rupees of loan. Neither President of India who happens to be woman nor any other political parties has been condemned the incident. But, India was celebrating pompously the women reservation act.
Women are visible in every struggle, whether in the Aganwadi, whether in Kashmir, Manipur against terrorist Hindutva forces violence supported by Indian state, whether tribal women who are fighting against the corporatization and militarization in the central Indian forests areas, against CAA-NRC, in farmers protests, in struggle against Hindutva fascism, in struggle against Imperialism, women are inner shell of all these democratic movements. All these movements are by women from various spheres of life are part and parcel of women empowerment. These are all class-struggles and without class-struggles against feudalism, Comprador Bureaucratic Bourgeois and Imperialism there can be no question of women empowerment. Real democratization of Indian society is only possible when the base for semi-feudal and semi-colonial exploitation is rooted out forever. To accomplish this task “Every cook must become politician. Only then can social revolution be victorious.”
Dear sisters and Comrades,
Since last four decades, Dandakryan women are fighting against loot and plunder of natural resources by the corporate classes. They have resisted white terror fascist Salwa Judum Campaign, Operation Green- Hunt, Operation Samadhan and now they are bravely putting up a fight against newly launched Operation Kagaar (Final War). The Indian ruling classes with the support of imperialist masters have deployed thousands military forces in the Jungles, along with war tanks, military drones, choppers and other war mechanisms. All these are because the grass- root tribal politically consolidated women is striving for their rights over their forests. They are fighting against the fascist Indian Brahmanical State for a just and equal society. They are in all productive works and are the blood- line of revolutionary alternative people’s political power organs. They are breaking the chains of patriarchy with new democratic cultural practices. Women’s movement of Dandakaryana is creating a new chapter in the revolutionary history of human species. It is a source of inspiration for the downtrodden class and oppressed masses. For that reason, the Indian ruling classes are desperate to crush the revolutionary women’s movement in Dandakaryana with iron heels. It is imperative to protect and strengthen the Dandakaryana women’s movement in order to nail the coffin of Hindutva Fascism.
