According to the New York Times, Ma Kyal Sin “loved taekwondo, spicy food and a good red lipstick”.

She was a young woman, with hopes and aspirations just like any other 19-year-old.

Angel, as she is also known, was shot dead by Myanmar security forces a few days back, triggering a huge outcry.
Scores of people turned up in Mandalay to bid their final farewell to the teenager, who has now emerged as the country’s icon for civil disobedience.

We have many “Angels” all over the world: be it the women who fight against patriarchy; the single mothers who soldier on despite poverty and lack of resources, guided only by the fierce determination to educate their children; the transgender women who are murdered for having the courage to be who they are; women who break glass ceilings; journalists who die pursuing stories; women artists who speak truth to power; our mothers and the list goes on.

As I sit contemplating about the International Women’s Day, I realised that what we are celebrating is the courage to be.
The courage to continue doing what they believe in despite a system that’s created to favour and support men.

Angel did the same: she took to the streets as a show of resistance to the Myanmar security forces and the country’s most hated man, General Min Aung Hlaing, who orchestrated the coup.

Thousands of women protested next to her, clearly signalling the crumbling of patriarchy that the generals were fond of preaching.

Just like them, we see women rise up against tyranny and oppression all over the world.

In pledging solidarity on this special day, I choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality.

And I choose to celebrate their courage and strength.

Charles Santiago
Member of Parliament Klang  

The Asia Europe Peoples Forum, expresses its solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of Indian farmers that have been protesting around the capital Delhi, day and night over the past several days. We stand in solidarity with the millions of other farmers and workers who are in support of the demands that the Indian farmers havemade to the Government of India.

We believe that the Indian farmers are correct in their opposition to the Modi Government’s two new Farm Bills and one amendment to an earlier Farm Bill, that were hurriedly pushed through a majoritarian Indian Parliament during the time of Covid-19, without consulting the farmers.

We are convinced by the analysis of the Indian farmers that these Acts benefit primarily the big corporates and will leave the farmers (especially the small land holders) in penury. Further, the farmers once at the direct mercy of big corporates would be forced to sell their land and become landless labour. The farmers fear that enabling the agrarian structure and cropping pattern to become controlled by corporates encourages only profit-making crops and is a threat to Indian consumers. It also threatens climate change. We believe all these ramifications that the Indian farmers are talking about have not been respected by the Government, who seem to have listened only to corporate demands.

We are of the opinion that these farm laws will also dismantle institutions like ‘Agriculture Produce Market committees (APMCs)” which provide employment to thousands of informal workers who support in loading, unloading, stacking, packaging, and measuring of farmers’ produce. It is pertinent to mention that these state led APMCs have  played a pivotal role in ensuring  that the farmers get minimum support prices/fair prices, which is one of the key demands of the protesting farmers.

We believe that any attempt at modifying the agrarian structure should be pro-farmer and agricultural labourer, include land reforms, and balance the various stakeholders in the agrarian production system. A national debate with farmers, all political parties and agrarian leaders should be part of a process of any deep agrarian change. In the absence of such a process, the reforms can be disastrous to the farmers and the entire agrarian economy on which the very economy depends.

We support this non-violent farmers’ movement and appeal to the Indian Government to accede to the demands made by the farmers, treat them with dignity, remove these laws and bring in pro-farmer legislation.