Nari Mukti Sangh

Nari Mukti Sangh (Hindi pronunciation: [naːriː mʊkt̪ɪ sŋɡʱ]) (English: Women's Liberation Association) is a women's organisation in India, with a base of supporters in Bihar and Jharkhand.[1] The organisation was founded in March 1990, during a women's conference at Talekocha in Giridih, which was held to organise women to wrestle against the exploitation, oppression and atrocities faced by them. An executive committee of the organisation was also elected at the conference. It had seven members, including its president, secretary and a treasurer.[2] Presently, the Nari Mukti Sangh (NMS) draws considerable membership from the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Delhi.[2]

Nari Mukti Sangh
नारी मुक्ति संघ
AbbreviationNMS
FormationMarch 1990 (1990-03)
Extinctionn/a
TypeVoluntary association
PurposeTo fight against the exploitation, oppression and atrocities faced by women
Region served
Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Jharkhand and West Bengal

This feminist organisation in India is not to be confused with Nari Mukti Sangh (Tangail, Bangladesh).[3]

Ideology

The organisation is influenced from "(scientific) Marxism, Leninism and Maoism", and "believes that national problems can be solved through people's struggle and on the basis of independence, democracy, equality, women's liberation and socialism."[4] The NMS describes India as a "semi-feudal" country,[5] and avers that "without a radical transformation of the state, women liberation is not possible."[6]

Aims and activities

The organisation strives to generate "space to women’s voice" and motivates them to partake in "economic, political and social activity and decision making processes."[1] The NMS's volunteers goes from village to village in Bihar and Jharkhand, and with the collaboration of local women, tries to mete out punishment to "perpetrators of sexual violence through people’s courts", and endeavours to cordially straighten out the quarrels amongst family members." It also organises "kranti ka paathshaala" (school of revolution) to educate women, and so far has enabled thousands of women to read and write.[1] Shoma Sen writes,

"Picketing at health centres where there are no doctors, at schools where teachers are absent, fighting for equitable distribution of food grains, for better wages and better remunerative prices, for equal wages for equal work between men and women, these tribal women’s organizations [Nari Mukti Sangh and Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangathan] are democratizing the processes of women’s political, social and economic activities, thus making development and democracy more meaningful to them."[1]

The NMS has become a cynosure in Jharkhand for their campaign in Pirtand forests of Giridih district to save the trees. They educate villagers about the significance of trees for humans and wildlife, and make them conscious about the possibilities of future natural disasters if the trees would be continuously cut down ignorantly. They have also alarmed to penalise the offenders with a fine of ₹ 1,000 or face physical punishment.[7]

The NMS is believed to be a "front organisation" of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and is also viewed as an arm of the Maoist Coordination Center.[8]

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See also

References
  1. Sen, Shoma (3 November 2010). "Contemporary anti-displacement struggles and women's resistance: a commentary". Sanhati. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  2. Sheela (October 2013). "Unas palabras sobre la historia de mi vida política" (in Spanish). Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  3. Rout S; Iyengar S (January 2008). "Review of existing and emerging patterns of sex work in Bangladesh in the context of HIV and AIDS" (PDF). AIDS Data Hub.
  4. Singh, Mahendra Prasad; Raj, Subhendu Ranjan, eds. (2012). The Indian Political System. Pearson Education (Dorling Kindersley). ISBN 978-81-31761-24-3.
  5. Singh, Mahendra Prasad; Raj, Subhendu Ranjan, eds. (2012). The Indian Political System. Pearson Education (Dorling Kindersley). ISBN 978-81-31761-24-3. In a similar vein, on the eve of International Women's Day on 8 March 1997, the Nari Mukti Sangh, Bihar, argued that India is a semi-feudal nation.
  6. Sachchidananda; Niraj Kumar (2005). Dalit Women on the Move: The Bihar Scenario. New Delhi: Serials. p. 109. ISBN 978-81-86771-94-5. OCLC 62733085. Nari Mukti Sangh recognizes 'State Patriarchy' as the prime contradiction and argues that without a radical transformation of the State, Women Liberation is not possible.
  7. Jaipuriar, Vishvendu (31 August 2011). "Red women on green rampage". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  8. Louis, Prakash (2008). "Empowerment of Women in Bihar". In Sinha, Ajit Kumar (ed.). New Dimensions of Women Empowerment. New Delhi: Deep and Deep. p. 444. ISBN 978-81-84500-89-9. OCLC 271833282.
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