On Their Own Terms

Reacting to the oppression of women,five junior college students start the Meri Skirt Meri Marzi (MSMM) movement to sensitise society

A heated discussion in class convinced a group of five junior college students. They figured that change wouldnt happen itself and that is how the Meri Skirt Meri Marzi (MSMM) movement began in 2012. There were no grand plans of becoming revolutionaries or getting into the limelight,but only the desire to react to what the group thought was gross injustice. Now with about 9,000 likes on their Facebook page and public events such as protest march,freeze mob and slogan competition,this group of teenagers is leading a campaign for change.

We refuse the present system of belief that a woman is raped because she deserves it. We refuse to be told what to do and how to live or to live in fear. We are not people in high positions,neither are we politically motivated. Were just students who want to bring,what can hopefully be called a change. We might be unsuccessful,but we refuse to remain passive, says Smriti Bhoker,one of the founder members. The other members of the core group include Pallavi Khare,Leona Lakhar,Sagarika Bhandari and Shubhi Misra.

Lakhar shares that following an argument in class,they set up a Facebook page called Meri Skirt Meri Marzi in August 2012 to voice their opinions against societys attitude towards women. Posting news highlights about cases of sexual assault and posters,they began drawing attention with a growing number of likes. Soon,messages of appreciation started pouring in. But when the Delhi gangrape was reported in December,the group decided that it was time to do more than just sit behind a computer screen. So we set out to join Punes march for justice. For some reason,the organisers cancelled the event. However,we decided not to back out and landed at the location. To our surprise,around 100 people were already at the venue and it affirmed that it was indeed time for us to fight. We went there as supporters,but became the leaders, says Khare,adding that they led the crowd throughout the two km walk. By the time they reached the finish point,there were 1,000 supporters in the rally.

In March,the group organised a freeze mob amid the hustle-bustle of MG Road where they stood motionless holding plea cards that screamed: My clothes are not responsible for your inability to control yourself. It attracted a reasonable amount of attention from passersby and we decided to open our page to real life confessions from victims. The posts were indeed overwhelming and shocking, says Bhandari.

Keeping up with their desire to stir society into action,MSMM held an online slogan competition in May. Some of the slogans that were submitted were proof how people in the city too desired change. These included Keep looking my way,my head will be held high. You want to bring me down? I dare you to try; Rok le jitni hai tujhme shakti. Pehnoongi wahi jo meri marzi (Stop me as much as you like,I will wear what I like) and many others.

Lakhar shares that they also plan to hold workshops and open a club that will focus on feminism in the future. She adds that the movement got another boost when actor Ayushman Khurana commented on what they were doing during a charity event in the city. We wanted to play our individual role in bringing change and the way the movement has grown proves that actions speak louder than words, says Lakhar.

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