Vijayawada: Caste, communal violence against women decried

Vijayawada: Strongly condemning in unequivocal terms the communal and caste violence which is continued in independent India, the speakers at the meeting organised by Dalit Sthree Sakthi here on Wednesday, stated that women in general and downtrodden in particular appeared to be on warfront.

National convener of Dalit Sthree Sakthi (DSS) Geddam Jhansi said that the horrible incidents in Manipur are examples of women facing everyday in life. She said that the whole country including the Centre and the State governments should feel ashamed for witnessing such incidents.

Prof Anitha, head of the Journalism department at Acharya Nagarjuna University, B Swetha, state women head of Samata Sainik Dal, Anupama from Bhoomika, B Sridevi from Safayee Karmachar were the key speakers. Anitha expressed concern over the continued violence in Manipur. In spite of the advance in science and technology, atrocities are also on the rise, she said. “The rights enshrined in the Constitution are not coming to the rescue of women,” she said. She lamented that there is no safety for anyone right from Vakapalli to Manipur.

Anupama said the continued patriarchal society is the root cause of violence against women. Though we cannot change the caste, we could at least bring change among humans. She explained the importance of bringing awareness among women to achieve the development of society.

The meeting expressed concern over youth becoming addicted to drugs. The influence of social media is causing more violence in the society. The shape of violence is also changing from time-to-time as in the case of lifestyle. The speakers underlined the importance of change in society wherein women are compelled to do domestic work. DSS national coordinator Satyakama Jabali, district coordinators Kumari, Mary Nirmala, Roja, Lakshmi Prasanna, Srinivas, Bhaskar, and others participated.