The Kittur Declaration passed in Kittur on Wednesday urges women to fight for the land and rights of people of the country, women’s dignity and livelihood.
It also asks women to dedicate themselves to secure the rights as enshrined in the Constitution, to preserve the social fabric, restore communal harmony and to stand up for the rights of citizens to Reclaim India and reject authoritarianism. The Declaration said that all struggles would be community oriented and non-violent.
The declaration was passed by women delegates to “I too am Rani Chennamma”, an event held to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Rani Chennamma’s victory over the British in the first Kittur war in 1824.
“The Kittur Declaration is a promise to highlight the atrocities, injustice, repression and the tyranny of this regime. The last decade has seen an unprecedented erosion of our democratic institutions,” said women’s rights advocate Varsha Deshpande who read out the declaration.
“In every aspect of our lives, our rights have been diluted. Our Parliament and our judiciary have been weakened; the social fabric torn asunder; our economy shattered; our education system and health system corporatised and privatised; our farmers betrayed; our lands snatched away; new labour laws deny the rights of the workers; our women have been attacked and assaulted; our children are malnourished; the LGBTQIA are under intense pressure; and at the same time the powers of the ruling classes, have increased and the people are being silenced by the use of force,” she said.
“Women cannot remain mute spectators to these threats to our democracy, freedom, and the Constitution. This declaration is a call to all women in the country to speak up, to come out on the roads and march for our dignity and our rights,” Shabnam Hashmi, activist, said. She said that the Kittur Declaration was translated into 10 Indian languages and would be taken to every part of the country by the women activists,” she said. She said that efforts will be made to create awareness about Rani Chennamma and other women freedom fighters in other parts of India.
K. Neela, activist, said that the declaration urged women of the country to speak up about issues like injustice, malnutrition, inflation, unemployment and poverty, demand accountability and fiscal responsibility from the government, insist on safety of women and seek punitive action against the perpetrators. We should raise our voice to protect our land, our water and our resources, stand up for our fundamental rights of freedom of speech, expression, worship and citizenship and importantly, our right to constitutional remedies to enforce these fundamental rights. This is a march for dignity, livelihood and resources. We need to use our power to influence and our right to vote to choose our representatives wisely and recognise their power to influence change and seek to preserve our diversity, our democracy and our country, she said.
The declaration was drafted by a committee comprising of 20 women representing various networks and groups. A team led by Biraj Bose and Shubha Shankar finalised the declaration.
It was translated into many languages by Bijimol and Hari, Victor Raj, Sharada Gopal and Akhila Vidyasandra, NAPM Satheesh, Shyam shree , Meena , Ritu Kaushik, Lata Bhise, Mohammed Mubashiruddin, and volunteers of ANHAD and North Eastern Network.
A campaign song written by Gauhar Raza was released on the occasion. It is sung and composed by Nazneen Shaikh from Maharshtra and recorded, and music arranged by Vaibhav Bhat at Nisarga studio, Dharwad. The Karnataka State campaign song was written by Janaradhana Kesaragadde and composed by Mysuru Jenny and sung by Mamatha.
A audio-visual biography of Rani Chennamma called `The Feisty Rani Chennamma’ was released.