Members of various social organisations at the press conference
Representatives of various social organisations in Dwarka held a press conference at the Indian Women’s Press Corps office in Windsor Place on January 19 about the "I Will Go Out" event in the sub-city. The event will be held at the Sector 6 market from 9 pm to midnight.
They said programmes were being organised across the country to express solidarity with the women who had fallen victim to Bengaluru’s mass molestation incident on New Year’s Eve. They added that several civil society groups in Dwarka had joined hands for the event.
The press conference was addressed by AK Parashar, member of Mission Clean and Safe Dwarka; Sudha Sinha, general secretary of Federation of CGHS, Dwarka; Ritu Khulbe, member of Sahaj Sambhav; Shameera Ashroff, Leena Dabiru and Shabnam Hashmi, members of Dwarka Collective; and Madhuri Varshney, president of Dwarka Forum.
Parashar said, “There are layers to exploitation and oppression. One of them is the deeply entrenched patriarchal structure of society, which continues to oppress women and conditions her to accept it as normal. This has led to generations of women being dominated and controlled.”
Varshney said that as word of the January 21 event spread, Dwarka societies showed a lot of enthusiasm and various forums joined in to support the cause. Many prominent residents of Dwarka have uploaded audio and video clips on social media sites sharing their views on the subject with millions. Some of these clips will be shown at the event.
“We are excited that Jagmati Sangwan, a prominent women's rights activist, and Swati Maliwal, chairperson of Delhi Commission For Women, will be the guests of honour at the event. This will give a lot of momentum to the groups that are organising it. There can be no change without solidarity,” said Sudha Sinha.
Khulbe, Ashroff, Dabiru and Hashmi briefed the media on the programme. They said that the call to Dwarka residents to make short video messages and post them on the event’s Facebook page has received a good response from both children and the elderly.
The event will celebrate womanhood with dance, poetry, qawwali, rock music, stand-up comedy and rap songs by artistes from Delhi. Nineteen groups will be performing at the event.
According to organisers, it is the first time 19 organisations have come together for a programme. City Spidey, Empire Medicos, RaSTAFdn (Rationalism, Secularism, and Transparency Appeal Foundation), Age Well Holistic Care, ANHLGT (Association of Neighbourhood Ladies Get Together), Choti Si Khushi, Dwarka City, Dwarka Collective, Dwarka Forum, Dwarka Parent’s Association, Dwarka Progressive Club, Federation of CGHS Dwarka Ltd, Helping Human, Janasamskriti, Mission Clean and Safe Dwarka, Pahal, Sahaj Sambhav, Sahas and Setu are associated with the event.
