FEMINIST AND DIASPORA ORGANISATIONS CONDEMN THE BARIPUR ATROCITY AND THE SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS SWEEPING INDIA

STATEMENT

WARNING: violence and assault

We are outraged and deeply disturbed at the Indian government’s silence and inaction about the sexual violence and attacks on women and girls which are sweeping India.

Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in the state of West Bengal two months ago promising women’s safety, the state has witnessed at least eight serious incidents, one of the latest being the horrific murder and gangrape in Baruipur, where an eleven-year-old Muslim girl out to buy a birthday present for a friend was abducted, subjected to the most inhuman torture, and gangraped after which, still breathing, she was tied up in a sack and thrown into a pond to drown. One of the suspects who was also a key witness and had pointed to the role of a BJP leader in the crime, has already been killed in an ‘encounter’ (extra-judicial killing by the police).

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, well known for his anti-Muslim hate speech, has shockingly likened protests in the aftermath of the crime to the “anti-CAA agitations” which were in fact peaceful campaigns against an Islamophobic citizenship law but were criminalised and attacked by state-sponsored mobs, leading to arrests and incarceration of Muslims.

In the same week as the Baruipur gangrape, a 13 year-old girl was brutalised in Sri Ganganagar of Rajasthan, gangraped by some three dozen men in several hotels over several days. These are only two cases which have made it to the press or social media. Many more go unreported.

At the same time the internet is awash with AI generated sexualised images of Muslim women, while rapists are praised and felicitated.

Meanwhile, in a bitter irony, one can still read the BJP’s slogan popularised by Modi, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Save Daughters, Educate Daughters) on the back of buses and trucks on India’s highways.

The skyrocketing violence against women and girls, particularly Muslim and oppressed caste women and girls, are signs of the creeping imposition of the Manusmriti, the ancient Sanskrit legal text known for its misogyny and violence against women and oppressed castes, with which Hindu supremacists want to replace India’s Constitution.

We stand in solidarity with the survivors and the families of the girls and women who have been murdered, and demand accountability, transparency and justice. This can never be replaced by mob lynchings and ‘encounter’ killings.

In relation to the Baruipur murder and rape, we fully support the demands of feminist organisations in West Bengal including:

1. A time-bound, impartial investigation into the rape and murder of the minor girl from Baruipur
2. An independent investigation into the State murder of a prime witness of the case and the circumstances surrounding it
3. An investigation into the role of the police which includes possible negligence and undue advantage given to the criminals
4. An independent investigation into the role of all politically influential persons involved in this case
5. Withdrawal of all cases against activists speaking out for justice in the case, and the protection of the right to protest democratically
6. Security, legal aid and a speedy and transparent process of justice for the family of the victim.

Signed:

South Asia Solidarity Group

Million Women Rise

Imkaan, UK National umbrella of feminist organisations addressing Violence Against Women and Girls

Sikh Women’s Aid

Women from OWAAD (Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent)

பொழில்|Poḻil: Lankan Feminist Grove

Birmingham Black Sisters

Network of Eritrean Women

Congolese Women of UK: A Common Cause, UK

Pratibha Parmar, writer and filmmaker

Huda Jawad, Co-director: The Three Hijabis

African Rainbow Family, Manchester

Centre for Women’s Justice, UK

Healing Justice London

Project Salama, UK

DEWA (Deaf Ethnic Women’s Association)

Women Together, Birmingham, UK

Samba Sisters Collective, UK

Black and Brown Rainbow

Biographies for Education, UK

SAWCC (South Asian Women’s Community Centre), Canada

Critical Diaspora South Asian Feminisms Collective, Canada

Hindus for Human Rights UK

South Asia AHEAD, UK

UK Indian Muslim Council

South Asian Liberation Movement, UK

Periyar Ambedkar Study Circle, London

Stop JCB Campaign

SALAM, New York, USA

SADAC South Asian Diaspora Action Collective

Canadian Forum for Human Rights and Democracy in India (CFHRDI)

Canadians Against Oppression and Persecution (CAOP)

CERAS (Centre sur l’asie du sud), Montreal