Namita Kohli, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, August 27, 2008
“Everywhere prices are rising, but women’s wages in the home-based handicrafts industry like ours have remained the same for ages,” says Naseem, who’s been doing this work since her husband abandoned her about 20 years ago.
At the AIDWA’s 800-strong National Convention of Muslim Women held in the capital, several voices like Naseem’s from across 14 states, found a common platform. Participants raised concerns regarding women’s work, citizenship rights, justice for riot victims, violence and negotiating the public sphere. So even as zardozi worker Malka from Uttar Pradesh — who gets paid a rupee for a chikan kurta — and Naseem demanded fair wages, Assam’s Manwara Ahmed spoke of those five lakh beedi workers like her, who aren’t still registered and hence don’t possess BPL cards.
http://www.newageislam.com/muslim-women-voice-their-plight/islamic-society/d/653
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