AID News for Mar 8 2004

[aid...@aidindia.org]

AID News for Mon Mar 8 2004

AID News for Mon Mar 8, 2004
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AID News for Mon Mar 8, 2004

Good Afternoon
Today's Headlines
1) Time to reflect and celebrate
2) Spin yarns of success
3) Links on Women's rights
4) Hers not to inherit
5) Theme


Today's News
1) Time to reflect and celebrate
An article by Kalpana Sharma in the Hindu
TOMORROW, March 8 is International Women's Day. Yet again we will go
through the tokenism of remembering that one half of our population — a
declining half — consists of women. So is this half of the population
better off? Are women in India feeling more ``empowered'' today, in an India
that some claim is ``shining'', than they did two decades back? Can Indian
women dream of a day when they will be treated with the same respect and
rights as men, in fact as all human beings, men and women, should?
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2004/03/07/stories/2004030700390300.htm
2) Spin yarns of success
Article by Bhibuti Mishra in the Hindu
LIFE seemed to be an unending nightmare for most tribals in Kalahandi and
the adjoining district of Nuapada (Orissa). Many left in search of greener
pastures but ended up as bonded labour elsewhere. The women and children
they left behind eked out a miserable existence, till ``Nuakala'' came to
the rescue of the tribal women.
``Nuakala'' fabric took its name from the initial letters of both the
districts Nuapada and Kalahandi; the name also means ``new craft''.
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2004/03/07/stories/2004030700010400.htm
3) Links on Women's rights
Every year women are celebrated throughout the globe for their achievements
in the economic, political, cultural and social arena. International
Women’s Day, which started in Germany in 1911, supports the idea that
women have equal rights and an equal voice.

Read more at ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ican/A2398700
and some history of International Women's Day at
http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/women/womday97.htm
4) Hers not to inherit
An editorial from the Indian Express and the Hindu on the controversial
bill passed by the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly...
The Mufti Mohammed Sayeed government’s bid to return Jammu and Kashmir to
a patriarchal paradigm is regressive in the extreme. Last week the
legislative assembly passed a bill, with alarming speed, to deny equal
property and employment rights to women who choose to marry ‘‘non-state
subjects’’. In its content, the Permanent Resident (Disqualification)
Bill codifies medieval notions about a woman’s identity being subsumed by
her husband’s. In its provenance, it raises the spectre of legislative
intervention to wrest away fundamental rights that a citizen has fought
for legally. And in its entirety, the bill is an audacious and
untenable attempt to alienate a woman from her land. It is to be hoped
that the political controversy that the issue has created in this
electoral season will inspire a rethink.
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=42533
http://www.hindu.com/2004/03/09/stories/2004030902731000.htm
An article about the Bill can be found at
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=42565
5) A theme -- to celebrate women all over the world
Well, instead of relying on contributed articles
AID News took the initiative (a rare occasion indeed:) to compile a few
articles that are dealing with International Women's Day (March 8th). I
spent five minutes at a few newspapers to see their coverage of International
Women's day (missed the Guardian and the Indepedent because I was late!)
and this is all I came up with. A lot of media space in India press is
occupied with ``India shining'' and the forthcoming Indo-Pak series. Instead of
celebrating women's struggles and rights, it is ironic that the Jammu
and Kashmir bill is in the news.
Ed.
That's it for the day
-Hema

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