Stories that Matter

INDIA: Mother's Quest for Justice     Go back to search results November 28, 2013 More Sharing Services Share | Share on facebook Share on myspace Share on google Share on twitter Anjuman Ara Begum * The culture of women's movement often set it root in motherhood as symbol or a weapon to create space. The notion of motherhood proved instrumental for women struggle for justice world wide. Patriarchal values existing in the society portrays women as inferior, however, this portrayal raises their presence and accessibility in public life as evident in various armed conflict situation. One of the rare positive impacts of armed conflict is increased women's leadership through a change in gender roles though often not the gender relations. Photo by: Sri Dasarath Deka Meira Paibis, (meaning torch bearers) is a popular women's group in Manipur active over a century to address the issues of rights affecting women's life. Changing socio-political lands...

INDIA: Year after Majoni's Disappe ara nce, Investigation still Missing     Contributors:  Anjuman   Ara   Begum * Go back to search results March 5, 2014 More Sharing Services Share | Share on facebook Share on myspace Share on google Share on twitter On 10 February, 2013 a young writer and teacher, Ms. Majoni Das working at a private educational institute in the town of Jorhat, located in the eastern Indian state of Assam, went missing. All that her family knows is that Majoni was instructed by police officials to report to a police station, and that she intended to pay this visit on her way back to her workplace following a short family visit. Before saying goodbye to her parents she told them about having been given these instructions by the Superintendent of Police, Sibsagar district. Since then, nobody has seen Majoni. Her whereabouts remained unknown till her family raised the alarm. Following their complaint, the police asked ...

WORLD: Women's Leadership in Peace and Security: an Insecure Agenda     Contributors: Anjuman Ara Begum* Go back to search results March 7, 2014 More Sharing Services Share | Share on facebook Share on myspace Share on google Share on twitter An Article by the Asian Human Rights Commission released on the occasion of International Women's Day One of the rare positive impacts of armed conflict on gender relations is the increased movement, mobility and opportunities for women in political spaces for leadership in constructing and reconstructing peace in the society during conflict and post conflict situations. Women's participation in conflict is multi-dimensional. Women play multiple roles in an armed conflict such as combatants, mediators, sleeper cells, informants, armed forces, nurses, peace negotiators and rights activists. Armed conflict affects women's life in different ways. However, the prominent portrayal of women in an armed conflic...

INDIA: No redress for sexual harassment at the work place     Contributors: Anjuman Ara Begum* Go back to search results December 30, 2013 More Sharing Services Share | Share on facebook Share on myspace Share on google Share on twitter Sabita Lahkar, a Guwahati based female journalist called for a press conference on September 10, 2003 demanding justice publicly for sexual harassment at workplace. She was working as the Chief Sub-editor at a vernacular daily  Amar Asom . She alleged that her senior, editor in chief and a well known literary figure in the state of Assam had sexually harassed her for a period of three years. She registered a case with the Assam State Commission for Women (case no: ASCW 44/2003) and another with the Assam Human Rights Commission (case no: 4652/03) and also sent letters to Press Council of India and to the Editors' Guild of India seeking action. A few journalists arranged a protest meeting in solidarity on September...

INDIA: Inventing Enemies – The Indian Way     Contributors: Anjuman Ara Begum* Go back to search results November 26, 2013 More Sharing Services Share | Share on facebook Share on myspace Share on google Share on twitter In 1958, north east India was declared as a 'disturbed area' and the draconian legislation Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) was imposed to fight the 'enemies', who claimed to fight for freedom from a colonizing power. To date, the law and the declaration have achieved nothing. The fight of self-determination by the people of the north-east continues. The region remains 'disturbed'. In fact, over time, the number of militant groups has only compounded and armed forces deployment has only escalated. The bad has become worse. Intelligence and security forces in Assam have claimed that over the last two years insurgency activities have come down in the state. The same goes for human casualties. However, the...