We, the undersigned, express our solidarity with and full support to the Women’s March for Change which will be held nationwide on 4th April, 2019.  We strongly oppose the communal and sectarian administration this country has witnessed since the BJP- led government came to power in 2014. The loss of innocent lives due to religious and caste based violence, and the rampant abuse of civil liberties experienced in the last five years is unprecedented. This threat, if left unchecked, will irreversibly damage the fabric of our polity and society. Needless to say, the overtly communal and hate filled  agenda that prevails now has affected women across the country disproportionately.

Since 2014, we have witnessed a complete failure of governance. While  data for unemployment, agrarian poverty, caste based inequalities and injustice, has breached past lows, government PR machineries are working overtime and spending our money to conceal this information from the public eye. We are not fooled by the glitz of the advertisements of the supposedly pro-women policies and campaigns of the Government - Selfie with Daughter, Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao, Ujjwala Yojana, etc., while several Adivasi, Dalit, Muslim and Trans-women have been systematically violated and deprived of their basic needs. Educational and cultural institutions are under severe threat. Women students, writers, activist and teachers have been attacked, assaulted and even killed by state supported saffron forces. It is an irony that at the same time that the campaign asking everyone to be a ‘chowkidaar’ is launched, our streets remain unsafe for women to even walk on. The empty rhetoric of this government’s slogans are wearing thin now. The unjust disenfranchisement of women voters and their absence from the voters list, as pointed out by the memorandum presented to the CEC by Women’s organisations, is not only deeply distressing but an outright assault on our democratic and equal right as citizens of this country.

Women in the arts have historically played a significant role in making and preserving the values of our constitution, championing a society based on equity and inclusion. Through our theatre, dance, music, images and other creations, we have fought for rights and stood in solidarity with the marginalised sections of society. For many of us, the very act of standing on stage, taking to the streets, singing and dancing is an act of protest, of claiming our rightful space in society. Today, this site is under threat as is the space to live, eat, pray, speak and express as we wish. As women who fight each day to carve out a little more space to exist freely and equally in this world, the current onslaught on the basic freedoms of the people of this country threatens to undo the many rights and freedoms won by women and men before us. This shrinking space for dissent, for freedom, for existing/existence must be saved at all costs.

In this spirit, we call upon all fellow women citizens to vote out the current right-wing regime and rebuild our country as the secular democratic republic that we have always envisioned. Our votes can make or break those in power and we must realise and reinforce the strength of our collective actions at this crucial juncture.

On 4th April, as artists and citizens, we will stand alongside, walk with the women of this country and continue to fight to save the constitution, the polity and our society.