Struggle for Women Emancipation : A new horizon ।। Ranesh Ray

Struggle for Women Emancipation : A new horizon

Ranesh Ray

Perspective:

She wants to walk

On the path of life,

She is chained

Wants to break open the chain,

Gives a call

‘Conquer the path’-----

The dark night of the path.

She stands up, walks forward

The mountain falls apart.

In West Bengal the human roar is heard in the air, in the waves of sea, in every corner of life today. It is the voice of crores in procession, slogan, in song. It is an upsurge of womanhood, a turbulent storm. It is a protest voice against the rape and murder of a junior lady doctor in RGKar hospital of Calcutta on 9th August of 2024 midnight. It is suspected that there is a chain of vested interest involved in the murder. it is a planned murder to stop the voice against the misdeeds of the culprits yet to be detected out with proof in totality. The protest voice spreaded to far corners of the states within the country and abroad. Human faces in crores joined the protest rally with folded fist. It is in this perspective the movement shows a new path.

It is not merely a protest voice in the traditional sense of the term. It is the beginning of a new era of protest, a rebellion against the system itself. It is a part of the women liberation movement supported by all irrespective of caste creed and gender. On behalf of  womanhood it is a call to take control of the path of  night dominated by the miscreants of all shades causing insecurity for the women in the society. It is a rebel against the patriarchal society represented by male chauvinists who take control of the night.The path dark deep at night occupied by the miscreants to be taken control of and ignite the light of morn sun to be dawned. It is the liberation of womanhood that remained imprisoned in this patriarchal  society. A call for a clean path free of all rubbish to walk on without fear is given. It encampases the entire community of the society without a flag of a particular political party. So it crosses the narrow barrier of political craze for power. It is to meet the greater horizon of the sky, to meet the shore of the human sea. Its voice looms larger and larger day by day.

We have a lot of lessons to learn from the movement of taking control of the dark path of night. A movement to get momentum and strength active public support, an upsurge of the people is a must. It should be devoid of any personal or narrow self craze for power. A political party cannot overstep this aspect of a movement. Otherwise it will end up with the narrow craze for  power . People's interest will be denied. Moreover the strength of the united people is really the backbone of any movement that aspires for the interest of the people. Moreover it is human bondage that creates an active barricade, the wall of resistance to resist and not mere arms. Arms may be turned into a necessity in the face of armed force attack. But arms without people's upsurges turn impotent and sure to be defeated as we experienced in several cases earlier. Integrity of the people for the cause is really important that matters in any war. And a movement is a war in  real sense. Essential helps in different forms flow in that help the movement to sustain. Sustaining the movement is necessary since it is a long drawn war that cannot be won over night. There is no shortcut to snatch the justice that the movement searches for. There are some short term issues that have to be linked to long term issues like changing the system itself. Moreover it is a flow of movements, one after another, that can search for the justice required for human emancipation related to women liberty. One movement has to give way to another. Today the call of taking control of the path at night has a greater significance related to the emancipation of womanhood in a greater sense. It is to be remembered that human emancipation is not possible without women emancipation in true sense. Women are the half of the sky in society. So the war to take control of the path implies taking control of the path of emancipation of mankind.

Vision, Passion and Mission  are the three vital aspects of a movement. The promoters of the movement must have clear understanding to lead the movement successfully to the end. Strategy and tactics to be properly chalked out. It is the spontaneity of the people's outburst of accumulated grievances that take them out to the road to participate in  the movement. That is the lifeline of the movement to create the wall of resistance. But this spontaneous participation must be guided properly to take the correct path. A clear vision of the path to the mission is required. It is an upheaval path of ups and downs. A victory is often followed by defeat. Journey anew is necessary. To walk forward on this thorny path passion is required. The mission is to be visualized correctly.

The upsurge:

On the night of 9th August, a few days prior to our Independence Day, a heinous crime was committed. A trainee female doctor aged 31 years has been raped and murdered in the hostel campus. It is doubted that it is done by a group of miscreants in nexus with the top brasses of RGKar Hospital, police administration and the party in power. It is to be noted that the lady chief minister herself being medical minister of the state is the guardian of the health division. But she took no responsibility for the happenings rather guarded the police force for their indifferent and biased behavior that tried to suppress the facts. Rather indirectly she tried to shift the responsibility on the shoulders of working ladies. Advised them to avoid night duty. Considers the matter to be an isolated one. Did not give heed to the long standing  complaints against the principal of the college. Earlier when she was not in power she  pleaded for CBI enquiry following the distrust on police administration. But on this issue she stood just the reverse. Against the crime,  a voice of protest was raised. The ways in which such a heinous crime has been dealt with by the hospital administration and police administration raised many questions of which the authorities have no answer. As there seemed to be attempts to suppress the fact with relation to the crime committed, the protest turned into a turbulent movement. Men and women of all ages in crores from all sections of the society started joining  the movement. It no longer remained a mere complaint against any individual miscreant but it turned into a rebel against the system itself. Stay in protest, road blockade, processions start to take place. A call  has been given by the womanhood of the society to take control of roads at night. It is an unprecedented movement in the history of India. Unprecedented from all points of views. In terms of participation in number and in quality it is unique. It spreaded to all parts of the state and beyond the state to the whole country. The response from abroad is huge. All sections of people extended support, joined the rallies.

We have already said that it is not a mere protest movement in the traditional sense of the term. The movement has turned into a rebel against the system. It is not confined to a movement of junior doctors only. All sections of society joined the movement and opened a new opportunity of the movement to direct it to a higher new horizon with wider dimension. It has started as a movement demanding justice and severe punishment of the culprits involved,security of the working ladies. The massive participation of women actively has converted to a movement against male chauvinism in this patriarchal  society. We expect to take the movement to the grass root to involve the marginalized people more actively. For this, different streams of movements are to be merged to give the movements a unified struggle against the system so that  the movement cannot be hijacked by any vested interest as it was done earlier. In case of Singur and Nandigram movement Mamata Baanneree was successful to hijack them and became chief minister with popular support.

In India the dalits led by Adivasis are fighting against male chauvinism to uphold the right of womanhood. At the same time for bread and butter their struggle are on. In fact in large numbers they are on the path of struggle for their livelihood. In Adivasi struggle for all out liberation is also an upsurge. They have started to break the traditional family bondage of patriarchal society where female members remain subdued, silence is their shelter. When their struggle for women's emancipation gets merged with the struggle against class exploitation it becomes explosive, a prairie fire about which the Tamil poet and a women activist among dalits, Meena Kandasamy, writes in her poem Agression:

“Ours is a silence
that waits. Endlessly waits.

And then, unable to bear it
any further, it breaks into wails.

But not all suppressed reactions
end in our bemoaning the tragedy.

Sometimes,
the outward signals
of inward struggles takes colossal forms
And the revolution happens because our dreams explode.

Most of the time:

Aggression is the best kind of trouble shooting.”

In fact today in the upsurge led by women students and junior doctors from middle class family  the above voice is in  the air. This movement has to be heightened to the level where the two merge to give the call of liberation of the womenfolk of the society as a whole.

Nikita Gill, a women activist poet unfolds the potential strength of a woman.  An ember a woman is in the heart of every woman that remains asleep. Once she awakes, it is an unbelievable upsurge, the roar in the air that we are hearing on the path today. She writes in her poem:

Remember what you must do

when they undervalue you,

when they think

your softness is your weakness,

when they treat your kindness

like it is their advantage.

You awaken

every dragon,

every wolf,

every monster

that sleeps inside of you

and you remind them

what hell looks like

when it wears the skin

of a gentle human.

(Nikita Gill, Wild Embers: Poems of Rebellion, Fire and Beauty)

In this upsurge we find that women force. Nirbhoya, Abhoya , Durjoya all remain alive in our heart, in the struggle for emancipation. They are calling us in procession, in slogan, in song. They are waiting for the morning sun to dawn at the end of this dark night. So we read:

 Women Power

The rape and murder in the dark night,  

Eyes remain closed,

A sleepless night it is----- 

Footsteps I hear,  

The silence of night calls me—  

Asks me to come out on the road.  

The incorporeal body of my daughter,  

Abhaya, Nirbhaya, Tilottama,  

Or Durjoya, the Adivasi girl.  

The silence whispers to me—  

It is an upsurge of womanhood  

That creates panic, shaking the demons with fear.  

The dark path of night is lit,  

The morning sun sets to rise.  

It is the roar of millions of women,  

The flambeau is torched,  

I wake to take my oath.  

The sun rises at night’s end,  

I am waiting.  

The slogan to take control of the path—  

To claim the right over the night—calls me.

Behind the crime:

Who and what behind the crime?  The two relevant  questions to be met to trace out the real culprits. Otherwise justice cannot be earned.

The crime that took place on 9th August,  was it an isolated phenomeno? Was it an act of sex lustration of one or some individuals? Or it was a preplanned well calculated murder with a definite motive to get rid of the obstacle that stood in the way to meet the greater motives of a vested interest. It is related to this corrupted socio economic system of exploitation and cultural system that bears the culture of male chauvinism.

If it is a stray isolated case committed by some or any individual it is easy to trace out the culprit and take action. It is   easy to deal with. The government, its administration  and the party in power become  more prompt in action. Detecting and punishing the comitant would not have been that difficult. But if it is preplanned backed by a vested interest and the party in power is related in a way or other the things become complicated, tracing out the culprit becomes a complicated matter because the party in power, the administration try to cover up. They provide shelter to the miscreants. Try to hush up the proof.

But what do we find in the case? A person namely Sanjoy Roy has been arrested but the principal against whom a number of complaints launched since long has not been touched by the state police. The dead body has been cremated in haste. FIR was not made in time, an attemt was made to pass out the matter as an act of homicide. Even the parents were not allowed to go near the dead body for a long time. Postmortem was done in haste. In spite of requests from many corners including parents, the body was not retained. The scope to postmortem a second time has been denied and made impossible by both college authority and police administration. Principal and a section of college administration remained absolutely indifferent and did not bother to launch FIR in time. Along with this a threat culture followed. Parents made complaints against police and college authorities about their inaction. They expressed doubt about the nexus between the police and college principal. Even they complained that the police offered them money so that the voice of complaint would calm down.

One particular incidence that followed  the mass upsurge is of great significance. On the eve of independence day, 15th August 2024, a gang of thousands raided the platform of the protesters who left the platform to join the rally of the call ‘Take Control of Night’ to keep it clean and safe for the girls. The call along with the call for justice bear a message of the women emancipation movement. The purpose of the gang raid was twofold. To create panic in the minds of the protestors. Moreover they vandalized the rooms of RGKar Hospital to demolish all proofs, all the clues to be rubbed up  so that tracing the criminals becomes difficult. But  the threat turned boomeranged. Unfolded many things. 

Even after four days nothing was done by the state police. Chief minister, though the police minister, asked for no explanation either from the hospital top brass or police. Rather in her speech she advised the girls not to go out at night and to avoid night duty. Different leaders of her party started abusing and threatening the protesters.   Girls were addressed in abusive languages. This unworthy behavior added fuel to the rage of the people. The protest voice started to become louder and louder. The crowd turned bigger and bigger. It has become clear that the crime is not an isolated phenomenon, it is well planned with an overall motive that involves financial corruption with which a high profile of the society is related. So arresting Sanjoy alone is not enough. Demand to enquire the systematic corruption issue, about which complaint was there already, has come to the fore. It is a systematic annihilation committed by the system. So the focus of attention of the protest has correctly been widened to highlight the corruption of the system. The demand to root out the system has got due importance.

What can be derived

The women struggle under our preview started as a protest movement with the demand for justice and severe punishmen of the criminals involved in rape and murder of a junior doctor. With the upheaval, rise of the people from all sections, it turned into a struggle against the system as it is realized that the crime is doubted to have a backing of  a vested interest in the corrupted socioeconomic system of the patriarchal system. So a demand is made to uproot the system as such. The spirit and strength of womanhood in a society has been revealed. The menace of a patriachal society is being fought. At a time when all seemed to be frustrating the movement in Bengal has raised a new hope particularly under the leadership of women. The response of common people of nonpolitical domain has helped us to realize that common people are the potential force in a struggle with correct vision and mission. The government is scared of such an uprising. It is made clear that united protest of the people is invincible to be reckoned with. For this party flag is not always necessary. In fact the denial of party  flag in the gathering and procession shows that people are losing faith in existing  political parties as they are only concerned with the votes to power. People's interest is not their concern. The younger generation helped the older generation to regain confidence of their own and raise the voice of protest with them. A great bondage between two generations shows the path to the future that we lost. It is a lesson learning chapter in history. An epoch making struggle it is.

The struggle is being led by the medical students junior and senior doctors and nurses  belonging to the middle class. Though sympathetic participation is of great value to the movement a more active participation of marginalized people is required in greater perspective of the struggle. Particularly the poor marginal dalit women are the victims of male chauvinism in families that bear the culture of patriarchal society. They are also subjugated  and tortured by the high caste masters in whose families they  work as maid. Poor women are treated as consumer good. 

In her poem Narration Meena speaks of the dual exploitation of women of poor family when she writes :

I’ll weep to you about
My landlord, and with
My mature gestures—
You will understand:
The torn sari, disheveled hair
Stifled cries and meek submission.
I was not an untouchable then.

I’ll curse the skies,
And shout: scream to you
Words that incite wrath and
You will definitely know:
The priest, his lecherous eyes,
Glances that disrobed, defiled.
I was not polluting at four feet.

How can I say
Anything, anything
Against my own man?

How?

So I take shelter in silence
Wear it like a mask.
When alone, I stumble
Into a flood of incoherencies. . 

It is to be noted that this huge poor women section  of our society has to be emancipated from the clutch of male chauvinism. So their rage against patriotic society has to be united with the struggle today to give the women's emancipation struggle a complete full fledged struggle.

The call of the struggle is : ‘conquer the path of dark night‘. The slogan has a greater significance for the struggle . The path implies every path of life that is occupied by male chauvinists of the society. The criminals involved in the murder and rape represent this section of men who bear the culture of plunder, rape and murder. ‘Conquering the road‘ slogan implies uprooting the vested interests who give shelter to the miscreants and use them  for their purpose.

An account of the struggle:

The struggle is on for about  last two months. Under the pressure of the movement  the WB government in writing met most of the demands. The implementation of the written promise how far will be executed is yet to be seen. On demand some executives doctors of the hospitals along with the OC of Tala Police station have been arrested. Some students have been lusticated. Administrative structure of the hospital and hospital related agencies are in the process of restructuring. Mostly the arrested persons are directly or indirectly related to the ruling party. The movement has not been withdrawn. A token conditional withdrawal has been made. The doctors declared unless the demand in full is met and commitment of the government is executed they will renew the movement anew. By this time they will join the duty partially. The sit in strike has been withdrawn. This is the current condition. The investigation procedure has been vested on the CBI after four days of the crime committed. By this time flood invaded different parts of the state. The junior doctors and students have concentrated on relief work to which they are committed.

The movement started with the demand for justice. With huge participation and active help of common people it reached an unprecedented height. It spreaded to every corner of the state. People of different states and even different countries are showing solidarity. The slogan of conquering the dark night has converted the movement into virtual war. It has undergone a qualitative change. On the part of the soldiers of the war it remained peaceful. A spontaneous upsurge has given the movement  a new unprecedented form. But at every step different leaders of ruling party are creating provocation in their speech of threat so that a direct confrontation takes place. They want a riot to follow. This will give the police administration to take upper hand in the name of law and order. The role of police administration has been made naked from the very first day. Police remained silent observer when on 15th August night a gang raided the hospital and resorted to the act of vandalism. The chief minister appreciated the role of police force. But this very force on the very next day resorted to force on the peaceful demonstration of the opposition parties who all along, side by side, launched protest programmes.

Conclusion :

A movement is an ongoing phenomena, a continuity from one phase to another. In a system there are many issues on which movements are launched.The movement on which we discussed is related to the question of women's rights in a patriarchal  society. When a girl is raped and murdered it is an assault on humanity, particularly women community. The seed of culture of rape and murder is sown in a patriachal society where all sections of women in the society remain subjugated, remain caged. Against this evil protest is a form of struggle that is a just war. This turns into a rebel against a system that bears the culture of rape and murder. In West Bengal today the protest movement against the rape and murder of the junior doctor has turned into an all-out rebel against the system. It has been heightened to an unprecedented level with participation of crores of people directly or indirectly from different sections of the society. The female members of the society have broken the chain of family cage denying the male chauvinist culture. It is seen that this case of rape and murder is not an isolated issue. It is deeply related to the corruption of the system. So it is a war against a system. It is also found that it is a spontaneous upsurge without any political banner. The movement is an eye opener, an epoch making phenomenon it is. It reveals the strength of unity of the people. The unconquerable strength of womanhood is unfolded. The next generation of us helps us to rise amidst the darkness of frustration. A new hope of the future to dawn appears before us, a new vision of life  is set in.

The movement that started about two months back has not been seized. The It has been partly withdrawn with partial success. There is every possibility that the government will not honor the promise in full that it made. Rather it will go all-out to suppress the movement. The party in power is banking on its threat culture that is a part of their ruling methodology when they become scared and cannot break the human wall, the unity of the people. There is no scope to be self complacent.