The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Women's meet discusses political issues

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 19, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Women's meet discusses political issues

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: Over 2,500 women from all over Tamil Nadu participated in a meeting on Monday to discuss political issues concerning them in the forthcoming Assembly elections.

At the meeting organised by the Tamil Nadu Women's Forum and the Tamil Nadu Dalit Women's Movement, speakers analysed the manifestos of different political parties and the work implemented and left undone by the party workers in the past five years.

Speakers exhorted women to think and vote on their own, Bernard Fathima, co-ordinator of the Tamil Nadu Womens' Forum, said.

Referring to areas where the "State Government had worked against women," Ms. Fathima said penury drove over 60 people to commit suicide after the suspension of road workers.

The participants were asked to consider factors like the use of women's self help groups for political purposes and the introduction of mechanisation in villages that resulted in loss of employment avenues for women, before casting their vote.

The Forum volunteers said they would vote for a party that implemented total prohibition, supported distribution of land benefiting women and implementation of laws that prevented violence against dalits.

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