Leading women groups came together on Tuesday to express their anger over the attacks on the autonomy of the Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) and claimed that the women’s body was not being allowed to function smoothly.
Representatives from All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD), Joint Women’s Programme (JWP), National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), Nirantar and Swastika Mahila Samiti have lent their support to the DCW and its chairperson Swati Maliwal.
Facing problems
The DCW has been facing problems since August last year after the former Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung appointed the Member Secretary and all files were routed to the Social Welfare Department of the Delhi government.
“There has been a series of attempt to disrupt the functioning of the DCW and the police have been used to stop Ms. Maliwal from exercising powers. While the active functioning of the DCW has given hope to women’s organisations and women in distress, we understand that it is also upsetting the highly patriarchal mindset and the nexus between them and the political administration,” said Annie Raja, general secretary of the NFIW.
Ms. Maliwal had alleged harassment by the Centre last year on several instances like naming her in an FIR for allegedly disclosing the name of a rape victim, alleged irregularities in recruitment of contractual staff and non-payment of salaries to the staff and others.
‘Fight for women’s rights’
Shabnam Hashmi of ANHAD said, “These attacks are not just on the DCW but on the fight for women’s rights. Our solidarity is not with any particular party but with a body that is working continuously for women.”
Secretary of AIPWA, Kavita Krishnan said that if there is any credibility in the complaint of corruption then it should definitely be investigated. “But the series of raids at the DCW office and other such attempts are an attack on the commission’s autonomy.”
The DCW staff wasn’t being paid since August and their two-months salary was released on December 29. In fact, Ms Maliwal had said that some of the commission’s programmes may be shut down due to non-availability of funds.
