Saorsa
16th November 2009, 23:38
Four women. One was an illiterate village girl forced to marry an abusive drunkard who beat and raped her. One was a university-educated intellectual. One was imprisoned and horribly tortured for years on end as punishment for daring to get active in student politics, another spent her whole life conscious of the fact ...that something was wrong with the world but was unsure of how to do something about it.
The People's War led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) offered all these women the opportunity to smash feudal, patriarchal relations at the point of a gun, and to free themselves from a lifetime of servitude and abuse. The ongoing revolutionary struggle in Nepal will destroy all forms of oppression and discrimination, and for the first time in history the women of an impoverished South Asian country will gain freedom.
The significance of this has to be appreciated. These women come from a culture where girls are quite literally bought and sold like any other property, where a women was little different from a water buffalo. In the countryside, and for most women in the cities, there were essentially NO opportunities to choose what path their life took and to live with respect and equality.
All this changed with the revolutionary war. In the areas liberated by the People's Liberation Army, society was transformed. From things as small as men helping with the cooking and cleaning to things like women being elected to the People's Councils that ran the villages, gender equality flowed from the barrel of a gun and the pen and mouth of Maoist political agitators. Women who faced a lifetime of domestic abuse finally had an opportunity to escape - to join the revolution, and to fight for a better world.
These women are heroes and fighters, and it really inspires me to see their stories. Violence (and esp sexual violence) against women remains endemic in modern capitalist societies like New Zealand, and we need a revolutionary movement like the one in Nepal to smash the social institutions and oppressive social relations that reinforce this.
Watch part 1 and 2 of this latest video, watch the first 'Bullets to Ballots' from two years ago, and read up on the revolution unfolding in Nepal. The fight is far from over, but it won't be long before the red flag flies from Mt Everest and everything in it's shadow is transformed for the better.
Lal salaam
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/witness/2009/11/2009111693330120888.html
The two videos below are the most recent documentary, which came out this week.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TnDGpc1bdU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TnDGpc1bdU)
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTy3WHwKfCA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTy3WHwKfCA)
Plus here is the original documentary from two years ago, shortly after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accords.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDNmIZd2Glk
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSc-k9Cnt6w
The People's War led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) offered all these women the opportunity to smash feudal, patriarchal relations at the point of a gun, and to free themselves from a lifetime of servitude and abuse. The ongoing revolutionary struggle in Nepal will destroy all forms of oppression and discrimination, and for the first time in history the women of an impoverished South Asian country will gain freedom.
The significance of this has to be appreciated. These women come from a culture where girls are quite literally bought and sold like any other property, where a women was little different from a water buffalo. In the countryside, and for most women in the cities, there were essentially NO opportunities to choose what path their life took and to live with respect and equality.
All this changed with the revolutionary war. In the areas liberated by the People's Liberation Army, society was transformed. From things as small as men helping with the cooking and cleaning to things like women being elected to the People's Councils that ran the villages, gender equality flowed from the barrel of a gun and the pen and mouth of Maoist political agitators. Women who faced a lifetime of domestic abuse finally had an opportunity to escape - to join the revolution, and to fight for a better world.
These women are heroes and fighters, and it really inspires me to see their stories. Violence (and esp sexual violence) against women remains endemic in modern capitalist societies like New Zealand, and we need a revolutionary movement like the one in Nepal to smash the social institutions and oppressive social relations that reinforce this.
Watch part 1 and 2 of this latest video, watch the first 'Bullets to Ballots' from two years ago, and read up on the revolution unfolding in Nepal. The fight is far from over, but it won't be long before the red flag flies from Mt Everest and everything in it's shadow is transformed for the better.
Lal salaam
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/witness/2009/11/2009111693330120888.html
The two videos below are the most recent documentary, which came out this week.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TnDGpc1bdU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TnDGpc1bdU)
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTy3WHwKfCA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTy3WHwKfCA)
Plus here is the original documentary from two years ago, shortly after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accords.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDNmIZd2Glk
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSc-k9Cnt6w