Author: Editorial
Publication: The Statesman
Date: June 6, 2005
Growing trafficking in women in
Bengal
It is a matter of shame that the
Marxists have earned the dubious distinction of reporting the highest number
of cases of trafficking in women. The state also tops the list for persecuting
old and young widows. This has been stated by Girija Vyas, chairperson
of the national Women's commission, who also pointed out that, after Delhi
and Maharastra, West Bengal recorded the third highest number of rapes
in the country. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the state women's commission
chief Jashodhara Bagchi cannot dismiss Vyas's contention as one-sided.
Unlike her predecessor Purnima Advani a BJP nominee, Vyas interacts closely
with the central Marxist women's front in Delhi. Vyas's statement has embarrassed
Bengal comrades since in the last parliamentary poll, a main campaign plank
was that in non-Left rules states the "ruinous and anti-people policies"
of the Vajpayee government had forced "lakhs of women to sell their bodies".
What has also shocked the Marxists is that Vyas says that panchayats have
done little for social uplift and personal security of women in the state.
Nine districts, including backward ones, are now a haven for traffickers.
Vyas would have said much worse if she knew how most Marxist-run bodies
were more interested in making money and concentrating unlimited power
in their hands.
Stark poverty in rural Bengal besides
the attitude of the administration and panchayats encourage women traffickers.
Marxist insensitivity to human misery has caused numerous starvation deaths.
Despite the propaganda that social and economic conditions are better than
elsewhere, the reality believes the claim. Bengali girls form the highest
number of those rescued from brothels around the country. Forty per cent
of Mumbai bar girls are Bengalis although a Marxist minister tried tom
pass them off as Bangladeshis. Despite Alimudding Street's claim on empowerment,
the state's record on the women's front is pathetic.
