Speech of Ashalata Sen

Hon’ble Deputy Speaker, I don’t want to cite again what had happened in Noakhali and Tipperah, because a lot have been discussed and deliberated upon these incidents in the House. However, I want to express my sincerest grief about the oppression of women in Noakhali.

I haven’t come to talk about communal or sectarian partisanship. I have always worked for Congress and talked against the British imperialism. I have no inclination to create division among our countrymen. We always struggled against British imperialism and now we are witnessing how we are fighting within ourselves which is a matter of indefinite shame. The women are always the true representative of human kindness. They showered their affection and kindness upon everyone, irrespective of religion or caste. Today, the women are the worst sufferers. Today, in Bengal, we are resorting to communal violence. The Hindus and the Muslims raising fingers against each other.

Consequently, our Bengal is witnessing a downslide. Carnage in the name of religion is the death of humanism: I wish to draw everyone’s attention to that. I visited many relief camps in Noakhali and Tipperah to get to know more about the sufferings of women. It is a matter of great regret that nowadays we often try to cover up communal strife or violence; but a covered up wound like this can destroy the whole national fabric of our country. At Noakhali and Tipperah many women were abducted and made to undergo the crudest form of torture and the number of these oppressed women is kept under the wraps. Some people are trying to conceal the truth. We should try to rectify our ways. I have visited many home of the Hindus and Muslims.

No righteous Hindu or Muslim will tolerate the inhuman torture upon women. In our culture, we always repect the women as the ‘mothers’ – full of the milk of human kindness. At Noakhali (which is my birthplace) the Hindus and the minorities are living for ages and generations together. So, what has happened all of a sudden that resulted in such inhuman acts? We should not deny the truth. Those who are trying to gloss over the whole issue or to overlook the incident are actually going against human values and running through a path of self-destruction. People of all religions and communities should join hands together to put an end to what had happened in Noakhali and Tipperah and should try to bring perpetrators to justice.

Courtesy: http://www.noakhali-genocide.org/documentation/speeches/