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The beginning of the conclusion to the year 2024 for Afflatus Foundation found itself in quite a place where real hustlers from different walks of life enriched the stage at the Kolkata Town Hall, a true meet-up of legends with the message shrieking loud from the undertone that “Real Independence is never given, but is fought and won over!”
Although it wasn’t Independence Day when the question generally makes the rounds, especially through memes and trolls, the grave fact is the question actually hold much heavier a weight that needs thorough focus and work, than it generally seems.
The Bengal Obstetrics & Gynecological Society organised the annual panel meet-up at the Kolkata Town Hall in December 2024, when dignitaries from different fields of life enriched the stage and discussed on the theme of the meet-up, which was “Violence against women” and how to gear up against that social evil.
The panel discussion invited brave women from different professions of life who have been working for more than decades now to bring a change in the lives of women all over the state, some involved across the state through means of awareness, skill development & livelhood, some involved in the field of rescuing girls from red-light areas, some involved with educating girls at the grassroot level while some even working at the judicial level in order to fight for the rights of those deprived.
Those included in the panel discussion were from various social organisations like Afflatus & Maa Foundation, Vihaan, Swayam etc. while some were even invited from states like Kerala. It wsa truly a magnificent discussion on the age old patriarchal system and how it has slowly penetrated its roots even in today’s society and the resulting situation is the violence that women have been facing over the years, and although there seems to have been developments in rules and regulations and acts in the constituion, the situation still doesn’t seem to get much better.
Ranging from issues like patriarchal dominance, deprivance from the very basic family level, disparity and denial of equality among brother and sister to beastial violence like gangrapes, the panel shed light on a multitude of themes and topics. The very essence of the panel discussion was to approach each of the panelists and hear their personal experiences and journeys in their fields of expertise and what were the oservations that they had gained from their works. It was quite an afternoon in the presenec of such dignitaries while delegates from BOGS including the founder and renowned actor, Dr. Basudeb Mukherjee, President Dr. Basab Mukherjee, other honorary delegates eagerly filled up the audience seats and enthusiastically focussed on along with representatives from the digital and print media as well.
An interesting part of the panel discussion was contributed by High Court practitioner and Human Rghts Lawyers Mrs. Mrinalini Majumdar, who shed light on the aspect from the judicial and legal point of view. Dscussing on the various acts like the Women’s Rights Act, the POCSO Act and much, what really caught interest of the audience was her statement from a gender-neutral point of view stating the issue of misuse of the rights given to women against violence which are more than common that what is thought of and that too by women themselves. Especially those with personal vendetta scarring men for life with no fault of their own, there are actually more women than people in general can hardly perceive, who easily misuse ther legal rights wounding not only men for their perosnal satisfactions but also deprive women who seriuosly need such rights. She also spoke about the socal evils that are more frequent in today’s society including misinformation, viralling posts and circulation without credibility verification, the cancel culture, keyboard warriors going on at random posts with no alignmentat being civil, the ills of social media and how it has led to people becoming more and more violent and that actually includes not just men, but women as well and in shocking numbers.
What is even more saddening is the fact that the laws itself are hghly biased towards women, but there are hardly any laws to protect the rights of men! And though the event was on violent against women, the actually truth lay in the fact that the fight isnt just aganst men but people in general who contrbute to this violence and tht includes women at various level too. What would be truly fruitful would be the day when we shall speak on violence aganst humans in general, and not just depart issues based on gender but come together to safeguard both genders from the evildoers as part of a single unitary body without complex in our minds!
It feels really proud to state that the same as complemented by the President of our organisation, Mrs. Anamika Chowdhury, who too stated on the fact that our organisation identifies itself as a “humanist” organisation because the experince gainsed from working all over the state at different levels and at various stages, the recurring lesson gained was that to ensure violence against women be obliterated at the grassroot level and aspects like skill development, community building, income generation and women empowerment be enahnced, both men and women will have to be educated alike. And that is more than important because of the very fact that women too ned to be made aware that the rights are for their own benefits but not for their misuse and personal vendetta which shall not only harm innocent men but also indirectly deprive hundreds of women who actually need these legal supports but hardly get them!
The panel discussion followed with the felictation of the grassroot champions who walked different journeys in their lives and have all had individual stories but what connected them all is the fact that they did not give up to the violence and the abuses but struggled and hustled and made a name for themsleves which would become an example for many be inspired upon.
The event concluded with the felicitaion of the winners of the poster competition who drew brilliant posters on the theme of the event. The conclusion witnessed everyone present in the hall gathered together and taking the pledge, vowing to not cmpromise or make do with the minutest form of violence or indecense and raise their voice wherever women rights be harmed.
The event was truly a dignifed one and it was a real honour for our organisation to be a part of the organisations that could contribute to the success of the event. Violence against women is not just some fight against men or a specifc gender, but to an age-old system that needs to be torn apart and replaced with equity and true justice nad shall only be truly possible when all, men and women alike shall come together and join hands to make sure a new society is formed deviod of such social evils and rust shackles!