Left set to flaunt women power

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:

Social justice

minister K K Shailaja will be the first member of the proposed Women's Wall to be constructed along the national highway in the state at 4pm on January 1. Shailaja will join the wall at Kasaragod. National leaders Brinda Karat and Annie Raja will join the wall at Vellayambalam in Thiruvananthapuram, where it concludes.


CPM politburo member Subhashini Ali, Aruna Roy and Maria Dhawala will also reach the state to join the Women's Wall at different centres, said P Sathidevi, state secretary of All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA).

In addition, prominent women personalities will join the campaign. Critic M Leelavathy, writers P Valsala and Khadeeja Mumtaz and athletes Mercy Kuttan and Preeja Sreedharan and boxer K V Lekha have confirmed their participation, said Sathidevi representing the Left Democratic Women's Front (LDWF).

"The major demand we raised before the elections was an assurance of a women-friendly atmosphere in Kerala and as of now we are very much on the way. The newly-introduced women police battalion, the implementation of recruiting women into fire force, assuring seats for working women and gender budgeting are proof that the government is focusing on empowering women's status to an equal status in a predominantly male society," said Sathidevi.

The LDWF has claimed that around 50 lakh women will join the 620km-long 'Women's Wall'.

A group of women cultural leaders have also sought the support of women to make the campaign a success. "The Women's Wall will be a manifestation of declaration of right to freedom and equality by the women of Kerala. It also aims to preserve renaissance values that have become the foundation of democratisation of Kerala", the statement issued by 220 women leaders, including M Leelavathy, P Valsala, K Ajitha, C K Janu, Parvathy Theruvorathu, Rima Kallingal, Remya Nambeesan, Bina Paul, Geethu Mohandas, P K Medini, Meera Velayudhan, Viji Penkoottu and S Saradakutty said.

Writer M Mukundan, who received this year's Ezhuthachan Award from chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Thursday, also supported Women's Wall. "An unprecedented resistance is needed to check the attempts to destroy renaissance values. Like people construct walls to protect their houses, a wall is required to protect renaissance values too. If it succeeds, the ripples of it will reach world over," Mukundan said.