National

PM refuses to meet women's group

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI. MAY 14. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, today turned down a meeting with women's groups, who wanted to discuss the situation of women who have suffered in the Gujarat violence.

The Prime Minister's office had given an appointment at one p.m. today to the group of 14 organisations, including the All India democratic Women's Association, the YWCA of India, and the Muslim Women's Forum.

The meeting was cancelled after the PMO ascertained what specifically the organisations wanted to discuss.

Brinda Karat of AIDWA said: "when we called to confirm the appointment, they asked us what we wanted to discuss with the Prime Minister. We told them we had some specific demands.

``They called us back a few minutes later to say that the meeting was off.'' The Prime Minister, they were told, had, called an emergency meeting. Their request for a later meeting was brushed aside.

A memorandum that the 14 organisations had hoped to give the Prime Minister said that it was "essential for the nation to recognise that the violence including sexual violence against women in Gujarat is unprecedented in its scale and savagery.''

It said that although there was enough compelling evidence of rape and sexual violence, only three FIRs had been filed in all of Gujarat on the charge of rape.

And those named in the FIRs had not been arrested.

The memorandum demanded that police file FIRs in all cases of rape and arrest those named as perpetrators. And, that the Government set up special courts specifically for cases of violence against women, "with specific reference to rules of evidence as medical examinations were not possible and in many cases women were burnt and killed''.

It drew attention to the plight of women widowed in the carnage, most of whom had received no compensation.

It said that thousands of women had been "rendered heads of families due to the killings of male members and have to assume responsibility for the surviving members and children.

``For these women proper rehabilitation is the right to life itself.''

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