We the undersigned express our deep shock and outrage at the incident of gangrape in rural Howrah, West Bengal, on 4th February, where two women supporters of the main opposition party, CPIM, were reportedly gangraped by 8 cadres of the ruling Trinamool Congress. While seven of the accused have been arrested, the eighth person named in the FIR, Barun Makal, who is an election agent of a TMC MLA, is still absconding.
This incident comes as the latest in a series of horrific rapes in West Bengal, where the Government has displayed its utter insensitivity and lack of political will to the plight of women, and has protected the accused.
There have also been a series of instances of violent assaults by ruling party cadres on supporters and activists of Left parties.
The latest horror from Howrah is clearly an instance of rape being used as a tool of political vendetta. We condemn this incident and demand that the accused be arrested and punished.
We support the ongoing struggles in West Bengal for accountability of the State in all instances of violence towards women. Impunity to perpetrators of rape breeds even more violence against women, and it is urgent for the State to accept its responsibility to end this impunity and act swiftly to ensure justice in all cases of rape.
1. Kavita Krishnan, AIPWA
2. Subhashini Ali, AIDWA
3. Kavita Srivastava (People’s Union for Civil Liberties Rajasthan),
4. Ranjana Padhi, Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS)
5. Ulka Mahajan, NAPM
6. Paramjeet, PUDR
7. Shabnam Hashmi, ANHAD
8. Akbar Chawdhary, JNUSU President
9. Jean Dreze
10. Sumit Sarkar
11. Tanika Sarkar
12. Amit Bhaduri
13. Seema Mustafa, columnist
14. Anand Patwardhan, filmmaker
15. Antara Dev Sen (Editor, The Little Magazine)
16. Kamal Mitra Chenoy
17. Prof. Anuradha Chenoy
18. Sukla Sen
19. Jawed Naqvi, columnist
20. Jyoti Punwani, journalist, Mumbai
21. Uma Chakravarti
22. Mallika Sarabhai
23. Badri Raina, author of The Underside of Things: India and the World
24. Mary E. John, CWDS
25. Sucheta De, President, AISA
26. Saswati Ghosh, academic and activist
27. Pamela Philipose, columnist
28. Madhu Bhaduri
29. Madhuri, Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan
30. Tripurari Sharma, Eminent Theatre director
31. Madhuresh, NAPM
32. Tanushree, indpendent journalist
33. Manisha Sethy, JTSA
34. Anand Swaroop Verma, editor Teesri Duniya
35. V. Suresh, PUCL.
36. Aruna Roy, MKSS Rajasthan
37. Mamta Jaitly (Vividha : Mahila Alekhan evam Sandharb Kendra ),
38. Nisha Sidhu (NFIW),
39. Renuka Pamecha (WRG),
40. Dr. Pawan Surana (Former President Rajasthan State Women Welfare Commission),
41. Komal Srivastava (BGVS),
42. Sumitra Chopra (AIDWA),
43. Kusum Saiwal ( AIDWA)
44. Dr. Malti Gupta & Bina Sharma (Rajasthan University Women’s Association),
45. Rakhi (CFAR),
46. Mewa Bharti (Domestic Workers Union),
47. Nishat Hussain (National Muslim Women’s Welfare Society),
48. Dr. Meeta Singh,
49. Dr. Narendra Gupta (Prayas),
50. Suman (Dalit Mahila Manch),
51. Asha Kalra (Children and Women’s Welfare Society),
52. Kailash Chand Kumbhkar (Academiy for Socio Legal Studies).
53. Ashok Khandelwal, Rozi Roti Sandharbh Kendra, Jaipur
54. Prem Krishna, PUCL, Rajasthan
55. Suresh Bhat
56. Satya Sivaraman, journalist
57. Garga Chatterjee, academic and columnist.
58. Binu Mathew, Countercurrents.org
59. Ratna Raman, DU
60. Kalpana Mehta, Saheli
61. Sarmistha Dutta Gupta, Kolkata.
62. Celin Thomas
63. Ramlath Kavil, FeministsIndia
64. Supriya Madangarli, FeministsIndia
65. Amrita Shodhan, FeministsIndia
66. Geetanjali Gangoli, FeministsIndia
67. P.R Prasanna, media person, Kerala
68. Viji P, Penkoottu, Kerala
69. Ambika P, Kerala
70. Mohammad Imran
71. Gabriele Dietrich
72. Virginia Saldanha
73. Kamayani Bali Mahabal, lawyer and activist
74. Sr. Helen Saldanha, CBCI Office for Women
75. Runu Chakraborty, WSS Delhi
76. Pranika Koyu
77. Monisha Behal, North East Network
78. Kirity Roy, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha, (MASUM)
79. A. Mani, Calcutta University
80. Ayesha Kidwai, JNU
81. Kavitha Muralidharan, Chennai
82. Sagari Ramdas
83. Rajashri Dasgupta, Kolkata
84. Rohini Hensman, independent researcher and writer, Bombay
85. Suroor, lawyer and activist
86. Sarwat Ali
87. Veena Poonacha
88. Dr. Hiren Gohain
89. Juhi Jain, feminist activist, Delhi
90. Kareem Sait
91. Kiran Shaheen
92. Dr. Kochurani Abraham, ICSSR Senior Fellow, Kerala
93. Anuradha Pati
94. Uma V Chandru, WSS, Karnataka
95. Shraddha Chickerur, researcher, New Delhi
96. Jayati Ghosh, JNU
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