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Excerpts from a Speech by Com. Ganapathi {Secretary,
CC(P), CPI (ML)[People’s War]} at a March 8 meeting in 2000
"Patriarchal ideology is widespread in society
as a whole, because our system is patriarchal. This influences both
women and men. Hence, chauvinism in men and submissiveness in women
prevails. These two thinkings (i.e., the two faces of patriarchy) and
specifically the male chauvinist thinking, seriously hinders the
revolutionary movement as well as the progress of women. This may
reflect, in the extent of women’s participation in the mass
organisations, or, while recruiting them into the Party and guerrilla
squads or in the course of work. In essence it is these two types of
thinking, particularly that of male chauvinism, which seriously hinders
the revolutionary movement."
"The whole Party, and particularly male comrades should understand the
historical causes for the relative backwardness of many women comrades.
Instead of treating them as inequals and wrongly commenting and falsely
criticising them, the male comrades should consider how they and the
whole Party can help women comrades enhance their manual and mental
abilities. This wrong trend, is like giving a solution for an unrelated
problem. Like what people say ‘the ailment is one, but the medicine
given is another.’ This type of wrong medical treatment incurs losses
for the revolutionary movement. Women have been subjected to patriarchal
oppression, in addition to class oppression, since more than two
thousand years. Only those persons who do not consider this fact and
have a male chauvinist approach would treat women comrades as unequals."
"In India, patriarchal ideology and culture in its crude form, often
utilising a democratic mask, is viciously attacking democratic and
socialist ideas. Therefore, in addition to the political struggle being
waged against feudalism, comprador bureaucrat capitalism and
imperialism, it is necessary to intensify the struggle in the
theoretical, ideological and cultural spheres. On the occasion of this
International Working Women’s Day, let us recognise the necessity for
conducting an education and rectification programme using socialist
ideology and culture to fight patriarchal ideology internally, in order
to thereby strengthen the Party ideologically, and also all the other
revolutionary structures of the people." |
