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Journalism of Courage
Mariam Dhawale gave a measured response when asked if her elevation to the CPI(M) Politburo, during the 24th Party Congress that was held in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai and concluded on Sunday, would bring about a difference in the party. “As a woman leader, I, and others like me, bring in the gender perspective very strongly in the party and its activities,” she said.
Sitting next to her, her husband and fellow Politburo member Ashok Dhawale said, “She was the first woman state (Maharashtra) general secretary of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) in the country.”
The Dhawales are the new couple in the newly elected Politburo of the CPI(M), at the cusp of making it big together as they always have through their activist and marital life. They have made it to the Politburo even as another couple and longstanding leaders of the party, Prakash and Brinda Karat, stepped down because of the 75-year age cut-off introduced during the Party Congress in Kannur, Kerala, three years earlier. The Karats, however, will continue to remain associated with the party as special invitees to the Central Committee.
A practising physician with an MBBS degree, Ashok Dhawale, 71, started his activist life in 1978 with the SFI when he was pursuing a master’s degree in political science at the University of Mumbai (Bombay University back then). From 1981 to 1989, he served as the general secretary of the SFI’s Maharashtra unit and then national vice president. Mariam Bootwala joined the SFI when she was studying in Wilson College, Mumbai, in 1979. The 64-year-old was the SFI’s state general secretary and all-India vice president from 1988 to 1994.
“The base of our relationship was activism and then came love,” Ashok told The Indian Express. Added Mariam, “Yes, we knew that the party mattered the most to us and we built our lives around it.”
While Ashok went on to become the national president of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), the farmers’ wing of the CPI(M) in 2017, Mariam was elected the national general secretary of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) in 2016. They still hold these two posts.
Ashok, who got elected to the Politburo in 2022, and Mariam got married in 1994 at a party office in what both referred to as a “simple ceremony — a registered marriage”. “I was born a Hindu and she was born a Muslim. So, in that sense, ours was an inter-religious marriage. But, emulating Bhagat Singh, we are both atheists now,” said Ashok. Mariam pointed out that they did not come from orthodox families, but their families were interested in religion being a part of their lives.“But we made it clear that we wouldn’t stand for it,” she said.
In the Politburo, each one is on their own, the couple said. “I am sure there will be some coordination between us. But we have our independent views. It will not have a material difference,” said Ashok.
Like they led marches independent of each other during their student days, they would be a part of the Politburo as comrades, Mariam said. Having a partner who understands one’s passions and activism really matters, according to her. “There are times when I travel for a long time, and then he travels for a long time. But even if it’s khichdi at home, we manage without any qualms,” Mariam said. Her advice to women is to always look for compatibility when choosing their life partner.
