fatima's blog

8/3/2019 Fatima's Blog

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Where Are Our Leaders?

Sorry to hear the loss of Dr. Wangari Maathai, leader, pioneer of the Environment

and Womens Rights Movements. Its a big loss for us as she was such a great

woman leader who stood for social justice. Womens rights and her total

involvement with environmental movements in Africa will have a setback. She is

the founder of a Green Belt movement in Kenya back in 1977. She motivated poor

rural African women to plant trees for a sustainable livelihood which was very

successful.

She is with the reference to Chipko movement in India, where tribal women

hugged the tree from the men who wanted to cut them off. They even tied up their

marriage symbol to the tree saying cut us before touching the trees.

Maathai, the 1stAfrican women was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

We remember our leaders; the name remains, the fame, popularity not

because of their wealth, but by their deeds to the humanity.

Maathai contributed to the earth to survive and the younger generation to

enjoy a future with the pure, clean earth saved from all kinds of pollutions by

planting thousands of trees.

Its the remembrance of this day, this September 2011, where the Alliance

and Peoples Movement in Tamil Nadu is to remember the contribution of one of its

leaders, known as Govindaiya. His name should be inscribed in the history for his

commitments to Social justice, womens rights, and rights of the landless and poor,

The Dalits, the tribals that he has been working with, for more than 25 years will

remember him and his contribution towards their lives. Being a Dalit himself, he


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went to Durban and attended the World Conference against Racism (WCAR),

exposed the Indian government who played a dirty role to block the caste

discrimination to be brought under U.N. framework to find justice to the

discriminated community. He visited Philippines along with other farmers from

Asia, Joined the protest with others against Institute of Rice Research International

(IRRI), which supported the Genetically Engineered (GE RICE) rice, which destroyed

most of all the traditional seed varieties in the name of research.

Govindaiya will be remembered by all the Dalits, who struggled with him to

find housing, pension, and the issues related to the crisis of Food, price hike, He

joined others to get better wages, land and supported inter-caste marriages against

many obstacles.

We need more Maathais and Gouidaiyas to stand up with the poor and with the

downtrodden. They left us but they will always remain with their inspirations with

us to challenge the crimes against Humanity.

Losses of these leaders are to be remembered as the wealth in the form of

land is to be in the hands of poor so that the nature will be protected from its

exploiters.


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2. Womens Leadership and the Commons

In Asia, there were many strong, rich women leaders who ruled their nations

as heads of the governments. From Indira Gandhi to Benazir Bhutto, to Bandara

Naike, Chandrika and today we have Sonia Gandhi not from Gandhi family but

from Nehruvu, the Kashmiri Brahmins are ruling the country even after 65yrs after

the independence.

India has women leaders who are ruling the states as chief ministers such as

the strong Dalit woman chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in India, Mayawathi and in

the South. J. Jayalalithaa also a Brahmin who is very particular with rituals and

numerology, consulting the temple priests before and after elections, even

consulting before appointing ministers for their state. Such a fundamentalist, she

donated cars to temples take specially her soon after she came to power around the

temple during her visit.

Mamta Bannergi, an extreme leader on the other side of it. She just walked

from the assembly to the press club for a press meet. Surrounded by thousands of

people, neglecting the crowd got wounded by a fellow who was trying to offer her

flowers.

Different kinds of national and regional women leaders are elected and doing

their politics not the politics of the people. Great social activists, Medha Patkar, at

any costs at any place any issue affects the communities, she is there. If it is slum

evictions, dam constructions, any oppressive laws against the people, against land


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grabbing, against multinational companies, against nuclear power plants. She is a

very courageous, strong leader to be admired. She went on fasting for more than 26

days after that she got arrested and got admitted in the hospital. She herself

protested was not alone in any actions she takes up. Even though she had her

masses behind her in all the struggles as supporters, its always projected as a one

woman show, by the media. Her actions, protests, demonstrations are all towards

the politics of the poor, the downtrodden, but not very serious on the issue of Dalits,

and women ,that is to say caste and gender issues are quite absent in her agenda.

Irom Shasmila, from Manipur, is fasting for more than 11 yrs. against Armed

Forces (special powers) act 1958 (AFSPA), since 2nd Nov 2000. She is forced fed, will

be arrested as soon as she starts the fasting in public, and will be kept in hospitals,

and feeding her forcefully. She is fighting against the nation-state to repeal the

special armed forces act. These armed forces are very special and the nation-sate

recognizes them, and calls them how many civilians they have killed. Shasmila still

continues her hunger strike-from the day she witnessed about 10 school going

children with others were shot to death by the armed forces. Police has more power

with the guns the power to shoot their own people.

On September 11th, 7 Dalit youth were killed in Paramakudi, when they went

with other Dalits to pay homage to their leader Immanuel Sekaran, on his memorial

day.

From the Republican party, the first only woman senator from Maine, was a

strong woman senator, Margaret Chase Smith, a leader who liked Roses like the

Indian leader Nehru- has a creed that she believed and declared of conscience to


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serve the public in dedication. She commits that how hard it is to be a senator with

so much of grief, harassment, and also discouragement. Today she is remembered

with the museum and a library in affliction with North Wood University.

All these pains where do they, the politician share with?

Why do they hide these feelings away from people if they are representing people?

Why not share everything with the people?

How close are the leaders with the people today with so much of power and

Securities?

Bullet proofed cars, jackets. (My cm wears). While addressing the masses, they stand

in a bullet covered podiums to address the publics.

Why and who are they afraid of?

Is it about only about their security?

Why, what is wrong? Is something wrong with their leadership?

Why do they keep themselves away from people?

The leaders from Human Rights organizations in India, their houses are

raided for, just talking about, showing support to peoples the movement which is

fighting struggling for Dalits and Tribals. One Dr. Binayak Sen was arrested and

kept in for 2yrs in prison and got released after strong protests.

What is genuine and good leadership mean to us?

We have given our Governments, the leaders, the politicians with more power to

suppress and subjugate people.

Let us rise up, and lets build up a strong peoples power.


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3. Empowerment

What does empowerment mean to Dalit and the women from the Irular

communities, who are discriminated and are facing multiple discriminations of

caste, class, and gender? From birth until death they undergo not only

discriminations but disempowerment processes that cripple them during their

entire life span.

Social economic conditions deprive them from opportunities. Untouchable

practices driven them away from getting good jobs, education, good health and to

live comfortably. It is the intellectuals capacities, with more earning opportunities,

and political thinking are all disempowered to keep the women more dependant

enslaved to the macho politics. The power mongers with the traditional

patriarchal norms, abusive of more power for their pleasure to violate the lives to

women.

Jayamma like any other women from the tribal community called Irulars in

Tamil Nadu, India. She is homeless, lives near the lake-bunds in a small hut, and

weaved by thatched leaves from co-co-nut or Palmyra trees. These huts are their

own but not the land they have the huts. They catch snakes and remove the skin and

for survival they will sell the skin. The World Wild life groups instead of preserving

and saving the lives of the Irulars pressurized the state to bring a new law to

protect the snakes and to bring a ban that no one to catch snake to protect the lives

of animals.


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Besides this, the social forestry was introduced to protect the forest and no

one was allowed to enter the forest without the permissions from the forest ranger

the tribal lives were totally dependent on the forest produce and no alternative was

given by the state government but allowed big contractors to log, mine, and destroy

the whole forest. The tribal who nurture, protect, maintain, plant new seedlings

were sent out to watch from distance of how the forest is exploited which was their

livelihood resources and they lived with the Forest. The nature was admired-

worshiped by this community who preserved the nature. That is the Lake, Forest,

fields, the sea, the earth, the air.

Again driven out of their forests they depended on paddy fields where they

collected paddy which was saved by, is stored in the small holes on the bunds of the

field by the white rats. The white rats are a delicacy meet for the tribal and they eat

the rats. They catch the rat and collect the paddy both are free of cost and catch fish,

collect greens in the field. When the farmers started to use new chemicals which

benefited the new-chemical companies, the farmers used chemicals, varieties of

salts thinking they will get more yield.

But it is the opposite results are happening. Now in two decades, in India Farmers

about 200,000 committed suicide due to the debt and less yield from what they

expected. The farmers died and gone, leaving the burden on the women who is

socially ostracized and economically burdened with children.

Irulars lost the forest, lake, water bodies ended up in inland fishing and in

brick kiln to make bricks, to all other odd unskilled unorganized jobs in the village in

earn and to survive.


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Jayamma, as an Irular woman had borrowed money from dominant caste

woman to build a house for her. Once houses are allotted by the state, the expenses

to build them to be met by the beneficiary and the state will reimburse periodically.

Jayamma with the other family members worked very hard to repay but

never kept any written document of what she is repaying and how much to pay

back.

She met the leader of her movement Irular movement asked him to get a loan

so that she can repay the loan she has borrowed from the other caste woman. If the

second loan is not available, Jayamma was planning to poison all in the family. She

was followed by the leader who went and enquired to found out that Jayamma was

paying more than what she has borrowed with interest to the women who is from

the dominant caste. Like Jayamma, many women committed suicide due to credits,

which were unable to survive without debts. Like our country, a modal, to all of us,

to survive means credit only. The dominant caste women became richer and richer

without doing any work, simply collecting, extracting more money from the poor

women, from Dalit, and from tribal communities.

Jayamma, a good leader, came out of her situation to find a solution but there

are women who do not out come out, struggle with the household burdens, and end

their lives.

Lilly was married as a second wife, with two daughters and a son retarded

took her life in her hands because she went to the houses of her daughters who gave

food to eat but not the amount of money she wanted. She desperately wanted


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money the next day to repay the loan to her moneylenders, but ended her life for

unable to face the debtors.

Rosalind, a very talented, result oriented, disappeared leaving two children

behind. When the time comes the burden of repaying the money that she borrowed

to build a house for all, not for herself alone. Women like Lilly and Rosaline bring

an end to their living at a very early stage.

There are 40 billionaires; they are called dollar billionaire in India. Their cars are

worth millions themselves. Their weddings are in the air and they donate airplanes

for wifes birthday.

40 million people are upgraded to middle class now due to the Globalization

process. The politicians have stored their black money in dollars in the Swiss banks.

The poor are more than 850 million Indians are living with Rs 20 that is less than a

dollar a day.

What is modernization today?

Is that to kill women in the name of credits? Are we going to donate their lives to

money lenders who have no universal values but worship money as their gods and

goddesses? The gap widens between the poor and the rich for how long to stare at

what is happening around us?

Should the inequality, injustice, discrimination to continue to disempower

women?

Haves thrive and not the have-nots?.

This system should be thrown away?


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And to work towards equality, justices, liberty, and fraternity to bring new system

where women will be equally empowered...

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