“These streets become dangerous at night; let’s walk to protect them.” “These streets grow silent at night; let’s walk to fill them with life.” Circulating these messages widely, several women from Pune are gathering on different streets and footpaths during the nights every week as part of a movement “Meri Raatein, Meri Sadakein ! (My Nights, My Streets!)” It was these words on a banner that stopped Rajashri Bhosale, who works at a private organisation, in her tracks. “I saw the ‘Meri Raatein, Meri Sadakein’ banner while passing by J M Road and knew I had to join in. When I did, I saw women singing songs, talking about the contribution of women in the freedom struggle and creation of the Constitution. They were speaking on violence against women. It encouraged me and so I went forward to share an experience of how I had rebuked a man taking video of my female friend while travelling in a bus,” she said. Alka Joshi, of Abhivyakti, a women’s group, explains the reason behind this movement. “This year marks the 12th year of the horrific Nirbhaya incident of December 16, 2012. So we decided to raise our voices against such incidents by hitting the streets 12 times during the 12 weeks from September 21 to December 16, one night every week, without fear, ” she said. Joshi said that taking inspiration from a similar initiative by a group in Uttar Pradesh, various organisations in Maharashtra came together under the banner of “Mahila Jagar Samiti” and started “Meri Raatein, Meri Sadakein !” in Pune and other locations too, with a message to the women: “As the evening falls, even the streets start to discriminate. At night, they belong to men. The time has come for us to assert that these streets belong to us as much as to men.” “During the first gathering on September 21, over 150 women gathered from 9 pm to 11 pm on the footpath near the statue of social reformer Savatribai Phule on the Sarasbaug road. The participation of young girls was overwhelming,” said Ranjana Pasalkar. Similarly, on the night of September 28, women gathered on the road at the Teen Hatti Chowk in Dhankawadi, between 9 pm and 11 pm and prepared posters, paintings for Rajmata Jijau, mother of Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. A musical programme was organised on Koregaon Park street on the night of October 6, during Navratri. Shraddha R R, an activist and co-ordinator of the movement, said, “We have been part of the protests, agitations to condemn crime against women. At the same time it is also important to give a message that women are strong. Hence we gather on the streets and the footpaths during the night hours and talk freely, laugh, dance and sing without any fear.” “It is not just about the Nirbhaya case. Be it the Kolkata rape and murder case, the Badlapur sexual abuse incident and also the shocking gang rape of a woman at the Bopdev Ghat in Pune on the night of October 3, which was during period we were gathering for ‘Meri Raatein, Meri Sadakein’ programmes. We see cases of women facing harassment at streets, schools, colleges, bus, market, home, workplaces. We stand on the streets and speak about it freely,” said Jivika Uthada of Vichardhan. On the night of October 19, due to heavy rain, women gathered at the Kelkar hall on Tilak Road to watch women-centric movies of late actor Smita Patil. Then, Alka Joshi said that information about the ongoing street programmes was also shared with Olympian wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh Phogat, who was in Pune recently for an election rally. Further, on November 30, women gathered on the J M Road footpath between 8 pm and 10 pm. An exhibition of posters giving information about brave women like Rani Lakshmibai and others were displayed on the footpath. A group of female artists performed revolutionary songs on the street. “Every programme concludes with an oath that ‘I would not tolerate violence against women’…”, said Vishal Bagul of Lokayat. “While the event mainly aimed at involving girls and women, participation of men was also welcome. Men too are taking part in the street programmes,” said a participant Sangita Patane. Activists of the “Mahila Jagar Samiti” said the street gatherings would continue and the last event would take place on the night of December 15, the preparations for which are going on.
