By TCN News
Cambridge, Massachusetts: Close to a hundred people participated in a vigil and protest in Harvard Square on Jan 1 2012 against the rape of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus in New Delhi, India on Dec 16 2012. The girl later succumbed to her injuries on Dec 29.
After a one-minute silence in memory of the girl, the various supporting groups read out their statements. Hardeep Mann from the Boston South Asia Center in a statement condemned sexual violence of all forms, whether one as heinous as the recent Delhi rape or those perpetrated by institutions of power, such as the state or social structures. Shecalled for a serious conversation and soul-searching by the Indian society to seek a lasting solution to the issue. Saheli’s statement included a pledge with exhortations such as, “We condemn all violence against women. It must never be accepted, never excused and never tolerated,” and, “We will intervene in whatever way we can when we see a woman being harassed whether verbally or by deeds.”
AID-Boston urged that we “recognize the gender biases in our society and institutions and work towards sensitizing ourselves and improving our institutions.” It sought to highlight various instances of sexual violence, including that of a tribal school-teacher, Soni Sori in Chattisgarh, central India, who has claimed that a police official brutally abused her, evidence of which has been confirmed by an independent medical examination.
Other statements expressed similar sentiments, with IAMC reminding people of the sexual violence during Gujarat 2002 and also against the more underprivileged sections of Indian society, like dalits and adivasis. The representative from IAC-Boston reminded people that women deserved respect at every step and effective and clean governance was essential to ensure a fair and just society.
The event also included a performance, “Exploring Un-Dress (verb) as a Metaphor for Respecting (Women’s) Personal Space,” by Aparna (Pampi) Das, a digital mixed media performance artist and poet at thirdeyefell.com, a poem on victim-hood and resistance by Aura Valdes, a survivor of “various kinds of violence,” as she put it and a recitation of another poem by freelance journalist Priyanka Borpujari, which had lines like, “Hum Kya Chahate? Azaadi! Raat mein bhi Azaadi! Din mein bhi Azaadi! (What do we want? Freedom! Freedom during the nights. Freedom during the day),” and “Muhallon mein bhi Azaadi! Maidanon mein bhi Azaadi! Bus-Metro mein Azaadi aur Disco mein bhi Azaadi!(Freedom in the neighborhoods. Freedom in the fields. Freedom in the bus and metro. Freedom in the pub and disco).”
Jaspal Singh of the South Asia Center noted that, “There has been a massive outpouring of anger against this incident and it has served as a wake-up call for the community.” He added: “The immediate steps to understand and address the deep rooted patriarchy in Indian society and the misuse of power by the state to target women are the need of the hour.”
The vigil was organized by the Boston South Asia Center and supported by Saheli, Association for India’s Development (Boston), Survivor Theatre Project, India Against Corruption-Boston (IAC-Boston), Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia (“Alliance”).
The AID-Boston statement can be found here: http://aidindia.org/main/content/view/1547/1/
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