Some 200 women, representing mostly slums in the eastern Indian city of Patna, celebrated the International Women’s Day by pledging to protect the country’s Constitution and democracy.
The March 6 program was inspired by the “Kittur Declaration” that urged Indian women to fight for the land and rights of people of the country, women’s dignity and livelihood.
The declaration was issued by more than 3,500 women from across the country who gathered at Kittur town in Karnataka on February 21 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Rani Chennamma, a folk hero in Karnataka and the 19th century queen of Kittur princely state who revolted against the British.
At Kittur, some 460 km northwest of Bengaluru, the women’s organizations launched “Naanoo Rani Chennamma” (I too am Rani Chennamma), a nationwide campaign 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 Kittur declaration was released at Patna too. The participants gathered at Aashray Abhiyan (campaign for shelter), an NGO managed by a Catholic nun in Patna, with the theme, “Role of women in saving the Constitution and democracy of India.”
Felicitas Roelofsen, a cancer surgeon from Germany, was the chief guest, and the special guest was Mukund Singh, spokesperson of the Rashtriya Janata Dal party. Uma Dafftarur from the Am Admi Party also attended.