SHILLONG, March 8 � Women in Meghalaya are not entirely celebrating the 100th International Women�s Day, but protesting against Deputy Chief Minister Bindo Lanong for calling a group of women �venomous vipers�.
The women from several organisations today organised a signature campaign and wore black badges against Lanong�s �defamatory� remark.
Lanong attacked the Editor of a local English daily Patricia Mukhim recently calling her and others �vipers� for an article refuting Lanong�s claim that women are not oppressed in Meghalaya following a matrilineal society. Lanong has refused to apologise as demanded by the women groups.
Lanong observed during a women�s conference recently that in Meghalaya women enjoy high social status owing to the matrilineal society and are not oppressed. When asked today, he said: �I stick to my statement. Women are not oppressed in Meghalaya. I am not going to apologise for my comment when I have not done anything wrong. They should (women organisations) apologise to me,� Lanong retorted.
However, the lone woman representative in the Assembly and Minister in-charge Education Ampareen Lyngdoh disagreed. �Women are oppressed in Meghalaya. They are struggling in Meghalaya like their counterparts in different parts of India,� she said.
�The systems in Meghalaya are in fact patriarchal in nature and male-dominated.
�Women�s role in many cases is limited to child-bearing,� she stated.
Expressing sadness at Lanong�s remark, she said the Dy CM should tender an apology. �Its advisable to apologise and the Minister should refrain from making such statements,� Lyngdoh added.
Meanwhile, the protesting women today decided to submit an �eye-opening� memorandum to the government on women�s oppression in the State on March 11.
�We would submit a memorandum to the government and provide data and facts on women�s oppression in Meghalaya, so that it could be an eye-opener,� Hasina Kharbih, a women activist said.
The women organisations would also demand a public apology from Lanong for making the statement.
