Women’s Libration & Class-Caste Struggle

In the context of your editorial in the DV No. 7. Jan. 16-31, 1982, we would like to make some comments. You rightly said that the much-publicised International Wo men’s Year (and now Decade) has not done anything to make a dent on the problem of women. “We also agree with your contention that the status of women can’t be seen in isolation. But at the same time women’s struggle against their specific oppression has to be fought as dalits and tribals have to fight against their specific oppression by the caste Hindu chauvenists. To our understanding there is lot of similarity between the problems of the oppressed caste i.e. Untouchables, oppressed nationalities i.e. tribals and the oppressed sex I.e. women. All the three will have to fight simultaneously against their SPECIAL PROBLEMS over and above class problems. Dalits have to face humiliation, segregation and discriminations in socio-cultural life even if they are better off. The same way women from any class are prone to rape, molestation, wife beating, harassment by the in-laws. Dowry death is predominantly a middle-class problem. Rape within the family can occur among poorer and richer class-caste both. How do you look at the problem of rape within the working class men raping the working class women, common problem in city slums ? Won’t we raise voice against rampant wife-beating among the working class and concentrate our fight against economic injustice only ? Whether we do or don’t, slum women of Bombay, Kanpur, Poona so on and so forth and tribals women of Dhulia, Dhanu, Santhal Paragana, Chattisgarh are protesting against atrocities on them by not only the class-enemy but also their own caste brethren. It is no use harping on mere “socio-economic transformation” in air. The traditional! Left has done it for ages and their bankruptcy was revealed when during the nationwide anti-rape movement masses of women refused to work under their leadership and formed autonomous women’s organisation. Even in China because the women were mobilised against foot binding, concubinage, prostitution and wife-beating simultaneously with the class issues, millions of women joined the People’s Liberation Army for the total socio-economic transformation. In conclusion, class struggle is in evitably linked with the women’s movement. Unless autonomous women’s groups linked themselves actively and concretely with the wider political movement, they will at best have minimal impact. We believe women’s demands have to be fought on a day-to-day basis. This is not something to be achieved after the revolution as the traditional Left believes. The revolution is the process through which new ideology, new morality can be worked out in the process of a struggle against hostile social forces. Thus the role of women’s group is to fight against all forms of oppression and inequality in a class-society with its class-exploitation, caste and sexual oppression. So it is inevitable” that women joined hands with the urban and rural working class as a whole and supported struggles of all oppressed nationalities, adivasis, dalits for human liberation.