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Wednesday, Jan 02, 2008
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Call for global peace mission for justice to women

Special Correspondent

Women’s groups mourn Benazir Bhutto

— Photo: V. Sudershan

BIG CONCERN: Members of women’s organisations holding a peace and prayer meeting to mourn Benazir Bhutto, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: Women’s groups on Tuesday called for establishment of an international peace mission for access to justice to women.

Participating in a Peace and Prayer Meet here to mourn the former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated on December 27 last, representatives of the women’s groups condemned violence against women leaders and suggested integration of the judiciaries of the world for women’s peace and protection initiatives.

Sreerupa Mitra Choudhury, chairperson of the Institute for Gender Equality, suggested that the International Women’s Day observed on March 8 be marked to set an agenda for improving access to justice.

Mohini Giri of the Guild of Services said the region lost a woman leader in Benazir Bhutto’s death as had happened earlier in Sri Lanka and India.

She said the need of the hour was to educate children affected due to militancy and naxalism to ensure that they were absorbed into the national mainstream.

Poverty was another reason for the increasing violence in society.

The nine per cent economic growth Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was talking about had not percolated to the masses, she said.

Farida Vahedi of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahai of India blamed the neglect of the spiritual and religious side of development. She said active involvement of religious leaders and faith-based organisations in the overall development of human beings and society was important.

“No peace without justice”

Lawyer and women’s activist Kamla Bhasin pointed out that there could be no peace without justice, neither could terrorism end unless people had access to justice.

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