Month of February and celebration of 'Resistance'!!

The month of February brings with it a season of ‘love’ and ‘freedom’. For young couples the month of February means a symbol of ‘revolt’ against the set norms of ‘patriarchy’ in order to exercise their choice of choosing their partners. Since the coming of ‘private property’, women sexuality is always seen as a threat for this male dominated society and is tried to be curbed every time and everywhere. The coming of ‘purdah’, ‘Sati system’ all symbolise the fears of a ‘patriarchal society’. In our times also, ‘love’ comes with a cost and curbing of every such expression of ‘choice’ continues day and night out.

The memory of ABVP goons beating and forcing young couples to tie rakhi’s in DU campus in recent years, or the 2009 Mangalore pub attacks are very fresh in our mind. In retaliation to that AISA held two big conventions in 2009 and 2010 with title ‘Love in our time’, where the rights to ‘love’ and choose our life partners was asserted. Both the years we had huge rallies throughout the DU campus and Kamla Nagar and slogans condemning ‘moral policing’ were raised. It is the strength of the progressive student movement throughout various campuses  that right wing forces have been pushed back and our right to ‘love’, ‘live’ and ‘wear’ what we want has been asserted. Despite this achievement we have to be vigilant against all these patriarchal and feudal forces so that they don’t again raise their ugly head.

Apart from the challenges which we face from the right-wing forces the custom of ‘khap panchayats’ and ‘honour killings’ has once sent jitters down the spines of young couples. Be it the case of Manoj and Babli of Kaithal, Haryana or the case of young journalist Nirupama, all of them were killed by their own parents and relatives only because they decided to love person of their choice. The Dracula of ‘khap panchayats’ and ‘honor killings’ stands open-mouthed in front of us and the challenges seems to be tough than ever, as in the case of ‘Khap’ whole of the community seems to be in conformity with this inhuman custom.. But wherever there is ‘repression’, ‘resistance’ also becomes the norm and throughout history we have seen how people have resisted every effort to curb their freedom. The ‘women’ of Egypt, Tunisia or Kashmir have shown in the recent upsurges that they can be equally assertive and can fight against an oppressive regime or ‘state repression’. There have been examples from Kashmir that women have been fighting paramilitary forces with stones in hand in the streets of Srinagar and other small towns in Kashmir. In February when we are celebrating ‘love’ and ‘freedom’ we should also salute the women of Kashmir, and various parts of India who are fighting ‘Operation green hunt’, ‘State repression’, UAPA, AFSPA and all other draconian laws and policies of Indian state. We should also salute various Irom Sharmila’s who have been fighting Indian state’s war on its people in the name of fighting ‘Maoism’. Salute them for keeping the banner of ‘resistance flying high’!

When we are in a fight against the ‘patriarchal forces’ and ‘state repression’ we have also to be aware of the definition of ‘love’ which the capitalist system offers to us.  We have to be aware that even ‘love’ and ‘sexuality’ have a price in the capitalist world and thus like other commodities ‘love’, ‘sexuality’ and even a ‘female body’ is sold in the market. On 14^th February when people will assert their ‘right to love’, millions of women will be sold in flesh market and forced to sell their bodies against their wish. Celebrating ‘love’ can also be celebrating ‘resistance’ and ‘women assertion’. Editorial, Students Voice, February, 2011