Women unite in protest against Nandigram killings

'Mahilayon par atyachar band karo' (stop atrocities against women). ’Garibo ki Rozi roti china Band Karo Band Karo’ (respect people’s right to food and livelihood, don’t destroy them). ‘SEZ Rad Karo Rad Karo’ (do away with Special Economic Zones).

Slogans filled the streets as over 300 women gathered in a protest rally in Patna, Bihar to condemn the brutal killing of 15 in Nandigram when police fired on villagers who had been resisting forcible acquisition of their land. 

Residents had refused to comply with the West Bengal government's plan to turn agricultural and homestead land into a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for chemical industries to be run by Salim Group, an Indonesian company. 

Sushma, 26, came from Samastipur district, 85 kilometres away from Patna, to take part in the protest in the state capital.

"We support the women of Nandigram who suffered atrocity at the hands of the state. Why does the government find it easy to throw their might on poor people?" she asks. 

“We are very angry. Women bear the brunt of every conflict and violence, why can't the state spare women and children?" asks Swarnlata from West Champaran.

The protest by women from Mahila Adhikar Morcha (Women's Rights Front), an ActionAid partner organisation, is one of many taking place across the country in the wake of the killings in Nandigram. Office workers from Delhi to Chennai wore black ribbons in an act of solidarity.

What’s wrong with SEZs?

India’s Special Economic Zones are currently under review having drawn sharp criticism and continued protest from a wide range of environmental and human rights groups, as well as farmers, villagers, fishing and agricultural workers who face losing their land, homes and livelihoods. 

Critics also point to a lack of transparency and unwillingness to hold open public consultations on the SEZ issue.

Some 400 SEZ projects, offering incentives to big businesses had been approved (formally and in-principle) amounting to 1,25,000 hectares, around the size of Delhi.

Under current SEZ plans, companies would be exempt from the usual labour and environmental protection laws causing protesters to rename them ‘Special Exploitation Zones’.

Commenting on government’s economic policies Umi Daniel, Head of ActionAid's Food and Livelihoods work says "The priority for big business is profit, not India 's food sovereignty, nor the lives and livelihoods of millions of women and men who rely on agriculture, seas and forests.

“Government must act to protect poor people from corporate abuse and ensure they benefit from economic development, not collude in their marginalisation through grabbing their land and resources.

"India needs to critically look into the current agrarian crisis and bring out a policy vision with the active mandate of agricultural workers, farmers and fisherfolk.” 

Tomorrow it could be us 

Back in Patna, protestors express a strong sense of solidarity with the women of Nandigram. 

"We are from Bihar but we are supporting our sisters in West Bengal because this kind of government exploitation and assault on poor people can happen in any state," says Sunita.

"Today it is West Bengal tomorrow it could be our fate," she adds.

Women demand justice 

The protestors joined nation-wide calls for immediate action against those responsible for the killings and protection of the rights of the aggrieved. 

They also demanded that SEZ policies be repealed and projects with conflict between the state and local people should be put on immediate hold.

"We'll not stop at just one rally. If the government remains unaffected by our anger, we will come together again and again to speak out against gross violations of human rights and make our voice heard," says Sushma, another participant in the rally.