A Pride Wishlist

Rishi Rout, AIPC Maharashtra

June marks the Pride Month celebrated by the LGBTQIA+ community globally. The Pride Month commemorates years of struggle for civil rights and the ongoing pursuit of equal justice under the law for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community, as well as for the accomplishments of LGBTQIA+ individuals.

While we have started the journey and negotiated some distance, we still have a long way to go in achieving equality for the community in our country.

And so, here's a wishlist of what we want in the next few years:

*Basic Equal rights
*Transgender health prioritization
*Horizontal transgender reservation in education and Jobs
*Anti-discrimination laws for LGBTQIA+ community and other minorities in India
*Getting a home loan, insurance, filing joint taxes and getting tax benefits as couples
*LGBTQIA+ inclusive sex education and sensitization from a young age for students
*Equal representation in the workforce and politics for transgender and queer people.
*Nuanced representation in films, music, and public discourse

Fellow in Focus

Shariq Firdoushi, President, AIPC East Delhi 2

Shariq Firdoushi is an Engineer who joined AIPC at its inception. Prior to AIPC, he worked for Maharashtra Congress from 2006-2014, mostly in the domains of the party’s public rallies and election campaigns. He also worked as a poling agent for INC in Bihar elections in 2005. With AIPC, Shariq has been one of the most active Fellows of the New Delhi Chapter, attending all events and meetings organized by the state and the Chapter units.

Shariq’s made a remarkable contribution in the post Delhi riots relief work in 2020. He was on the ground for several weeks, reaching out to riot victimsdoor-to-door and distributing relief material among them on the one hand, while collecting money from AIPC Fellows and other helpful citizens on the other, for organizing the relief material. He also helped some victims rebuild their homes, restart their livelihood, fill out compensation forms, etc.

While he was still working for the relief of the riot victims, Covid-19 struck us. He started working for providing Covid-19 relief among the poor during the lockdown. He helped provide dry ration to over 700 Families in various part of Delhi, and also distributed rations among sex workers in the GB road area and members of the transgender community in Mangolpuri. He undertook cooked food packets distribution extensively for a few months (during lockdown 1 to lockdown 4) in areas of North East Delhi, Chattarpur, Lajpat Nagar, Malviya Nagar, Karawalnagar, Footpath, Outside Mandir, Seelampur flyover, and among migrant workers at the UP border area. He organized distribution of masks and sanitizers and helped send around 600-700 migrant workers to Bihar, UP, Jharkhand and Bengal by train, bus, and hired cars, also working with INC Councillor Abhishek Dutt for the purpose.

While working for the relief of the poor, Sharique was simultaneously also working to help Covid-19 patients. He helped arrange oxygen cylinders, beds, plasma for several patients.During Covid-19, Delhi also witnessed the farmers’ protests, and Shrique continued working on the ground, visiting the protest sites for several days and weeks, and distributing relief material, drinking water, etc., among them.

In addition to his social work on the ground, Shairq actively participated in Delhi assembly election campaign with INC candidate Ms Shivani Chopra, worked in the war room in the last Bihar assembly elections, and in the Uttrakhand assembly elections this year extensively.

The list of his contributions to AIPC work and INC work is longer than this. But perhaps it would suffice to say that here’s one AIPC Fellow who is contributing to AIPC and INC work each day, working on the ground and contributing to the strengthening of progressive politics in our society. Shariq has been the Outreach Coordinator of AIPC Delhi for the past few years and became the President of the East Delhi 2 Chapter recently. Please join AIPC and Inspire! in saluting this worthy AIPC Fellow.

Poetry

How To Kill a Woman

JaspriyaGandhok, AIPC Pune, Maharashtra

Here's a tutorial,
A step by step guide
To kill a woman -
her spirit and pride.

Play solo or multiplayer
Many levels of unlimited fun.
Pick an avatar--father, brother,
Husband, lover, coworker or even a no-one.

Deny her nourishment,
Kill her body.
Deny her education,
Kill her mind.

Deny her freedom,
Kill her spirit.
Shame her, for just being.
Desecrate her body.
Kill her confidence,
Her self-worth.

Fool her into believing
That this is for her own good.
Tell her all this is her purpose.
Don't let her be what she could.
Afterall, it's about what "she should..."
Castigate her, mutilate her,
Humiliate her, violate her.
This is how you kill a woman
And still have some use for her.

When you can kill her soul,
Why kill her body?
When you can give her a thousand deaths,
Why kill her once and set her free?
This is how you kill a woman,
Give her many deaths,
As long as she lives, Amen!

Poems

DaharMujavar, President, AIPC Pune Central, Maharashtra

Gandhiji

Night