Bangalore became the first city to cancel the global
campaign protesting against using the appearance of a woman as an excuse for rape, popularly known as the SlutWalk.
The campaign was slated to be held in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Bangalore. Although the organisers had permission from the police in a letter dated November 29, the permission was withdrawn on Saturday night, after the police received information that, “the walk would trigger protests from various other organisations,” according to a police official.
When asked who the dissenting voices were, the official said, “We do not want to name the organisations that expressed displeasure but there are many who even threatened to hold a ‘violent protest’ if the walk was held.”
Dillan Chandramouli, an organiser of SlutWalk Bangalore, called Gejje Hejje, has even been receiving threat calls. He said a women’s rights organisation called him, asking about the walk.
“She asked me if women would be wearing skimpy clothes. I told her that they would be wearing anything they are comfortable in. To which, she said that if the girls decided to wear skimpy clothes, they would be beaten with brooms.”
He said what surprised him the most was what the lady said next, especially considering she is from a women’s rights organisation. “She said that if these girls were raped or abused, they would deserve it,” he said.
“It does not matter how a woman is dressed, whether she drinks or smokes. It does not give a man the right to abuse her. And if she is (victimised), it does not mean she deserves it or that she had it coming. We have to stop putting the blame on the woman who was raped or abused. Nobody deserves that,” he added.
Organisers arrested
Nine organisers were taken into custody on Sunday morning and released later in the afternoon.
According to the organisers, “Since the walk was cancelled late in the evening, some of the organisers decided to go there in the morning to tell people who would be arriving that it had been cancelled. Initially, the police thought that we were there to protest but we explained the reason to them. We were asked to move away from Town Hall and we did so. A few minutes later as we were walking away, a few women police officers took us into custody,” said Aqseer Sodhi, an organiser.
According to a police official, the problem began after the media began arriving at Town Hall.
“People (organisers) were trying to get the media’s attention and things were getting out of hand,” the police official said
According to DCP Ramesh, “Despite being denied permission, the organisers were planning to protest there. Although we repeatedly told them to stop, they did not do so. This is why we arrested them.”
