Telangana’s women up in arms against Congress government

Monday’s unsavoury events during the protest by ASHA workers was just one in a long list of women taking to the streets in protest against the policies, initiatives and approach of the Congress government.

Hyderabad: This could be the mother of all ironies. On the day when the Congress government unveiled its redesigned Telangana Thalli statue at the Secretariat, claiming to ensure respect and importance to women in the State, women ASHA workers were manhandled by the police, with even male cops behaving in a rough manner with the agitating women, all in the State capital and barely a few kilometres away from the Secretariat.

Monday’s unsavoury events during the protest by ASHA workers was just one in a long list of women taking to the streets in protest against the policies, initiatives and approach of the Congress government. From women farmers, women employees, girl students to women from almost every section of the society have been up in arms against the State government for varied reasons over the last one year.

Though men have also staged protests, there is an increasing trend of women taking the lead in fighting for their rights, protecting their families and assets, that too, irrespective of age. Be it among the tribal farmers in Lagacherla, those opposing the ethanol plant at Dilawarpur, wives of police constables demanding the ‘Ek Police’ system, housewives opposing HYDRAA and Musi demolitions, women have been right in front of the crowd.

The image of a woman, undeterred by the hot summer in May, sitting in a murky water-filled pothole in Anand Nagar of Bandlaguda, protesting against the poor road conditions in the city, and that of an elderly woman running and shouting at the police while holding a bottle of pesticide during the ethanol plant protest in Dilawarpur, have defined the spirit and aggression with which women in Telangana have come all out against the Congress government.

In August, students of Kasturbha Gandhi Girls School, Nacharam in Kodangal represented by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, took many by surprise by staging a protest on the road over poor quality of food being served to them in the school. Taking a cue from them, students from other schools also staged protests at different places.

September saw the women hitting the streets in large numbers to oppose the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Protection Agency (HYDRAA) and Musi riverfront demolitions. While women at Sunnam Cheruvu threatened self-immolation in protest against the demolition of their houses, others argued with HYDRAA officials for initiating action without any notices and sparing influential persons, including the Chief Minister’s elder brother Tirupati Reddy’s house at Kavuri Hills. Videos of women criticizing the Congress government for its decisions, with some using the choicest of abuses against the Chief Minister, had gone viral on social media platforms.

Buchamma’s suicide at her house in Yadava Basthi, Kukatpally on September 29, had triggered a row, forcing the government to stall the demolitions.

Residents led by women from different areas on the River Musi banks also staged protests at MRO offices and on the streets in their colonies. Videos of women standing firm in opposing relocation from their colonies to double bedroom houses had also gone viral. A few even demanded the Chief Minister to allot his house in Jubilee Hills under compensation to them, reflecting their ire.

That was not all. Perhaps the first time in the State, police were forced to act tough on their colleagues and their families in October. This was after the wives of police constables took to the streets across the State and raised slogans against abnormal duty hours for their husbands and frequent transfers. When their families, including pregnant women, approached the Secretariat to stage a protest, they were chased, bundled into police vehicles and some even lathi-charged.

The atrocities on Lagacherla tribal farmers in November drew national attention. Many women came out in the open and explained to the media, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and the National Human Rights Commission about how they were abused and assaulted by the police at midnight and how their sons and husbands were forcibly taken away, forcing many to run and hide in the nearby forests. Despite the highhandedness of the police and government, the women did not relent and made it clear that they would not part with their lands for Revanth Reddy’s proposed pharma village or any other industrial unit.

Drawing inspiration from Lagacherla women, many families, led by women and children, from Gundampally and Dilawarpur in Nirmal staged a rasta roko for over 12 hours on the highway in protest against an upcoming ethanol plant in the area. With the protest continuing for the second day, and turning violent too, the State government was forced to issue orders stalling work on the ethanol plant.

On Monday, a large number of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers protested at Director of Medical Education in Koti demanding that their salaries be increased from Rs.9000 to Rs.18,000. The Congress during the last Assembly elections had promised that their salaries would be increased.

Women also opposed the Congress government’s Praja Palana Vijayotsavalu at different places in the State. It began in the Chief Minister’s home district of Palamuru when a few men and women opposed and stopped a cultural troupe from staging shows. Questioning officials, Congress leaders and the artists, they argued that the Congress government had deceived them in the name of guarantees, especially the promises made to women in the Congress manifesto.

The video of Gauramma, a fruit seller at the Kothagudem bus-stand, questioning the cultural troupe about the government’s failure in fulfilling promises made to people, only reflected the mood of the people, especially the women of Telangana.