Issues relating to women in Gujarat are not dealt with in an appropriate manner. This was one of the central themes at the first state-level convention on womens issues held in the city. Drawing more than a thousand women from across Gujarat,the convention held on Thursday witnessed some 45 organisations representing Gujarat-based womens NGOs and secular political parties objecting to Chief Minister Narendra Modis projection of Gujarat as a model state on matters pertaining to womens issues. Raveena Panchal,one of the speakers at the convention titled I will speak now hailing from Panchamahal said,The plight of Dalit women in the state is pitiable and Modi is spreading falsehoods about the state being the developmental model. Shabnam Hashmi,human rights activist and founder of Anhad,an NGO that took the lead in organising the event,said,this convention is important in the present context where a leader like Modi is projecting Gujarat as a heaven. We are here to puncture that myth. She said,While women from many voluntary organisations spoke about issues close to their heart,this was the first time that political parties like JD (U),Mahila Congress,Communist Party of India (CPI),CPI (M),Lokjanshakti Party (LJP) and Nationalist Congress Party-Rastriya Janata Dal (NCP-RJD) came together on one platform to counter fascist forces and object against Modi projecting the state of Gujarat as vibrant. A video footage of the event with sound bytes from various women has been compiled and will be released on the internet,she added. While BJP officials were not invited to the conference,representatives from other political parties participated and spoke at panel discussions on womens issues. How can Gujarat be a model state with emergence of cases like that of Asaram Bapu who has been arrested for alleged sexual assault and his son Narayan Sai. While the state government harps on educating women,it is made available to them through costly self-financed colleges,which proves costly for poor women, said Nalini Jadeja,CPI-M district secretary and member of the central committee member of All-India Democratic Womens Association. Women from different communities and social strata touched upon the issues faced by them including lack of medical facilities,rights of Maldhari community,siphoning off Gauchar land to industries,finding employment,legal issues and resettlement of 2002 riot victims among others. Charu Belsare,National Secretary of Lok Janshakti Party,spoke about Dalit problems and said,Even amidst the rising problem of atrocities against women,Dalit women in the state face the problem of not getting their FIR registered.
