Over 200 activists, artists express solidarity with Rojava women under Syrian attack

New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) Activists from India and abroad on Saturday issued a statement expressing solidarity with the women of North and East Syria (Rojava), under attack from the country's interim government, as they called for lasting peace in the region.

The signatories said the 'Democratic Autonomous Administration' -- described as a unique model of free and equal coexistence led by women -- is currently facing a "genocidal campaign of destruction" by the Syrian Interim Government and fundamentalist factions.

"For the past 14 years, the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria – often known as the Rojava revolution – has built a unique democratic project that stands as a model for free and equal coexistence," the activists said.

They said the interim government, under interim president al-Shaara, has effectively declared war on this democratic project, and the situation has escalated dramatically since January 6, with the kidnapping of women and sexual assault on them by fundamentalist groups.

The signatories said the current escalation is a direct attack on women's rights, as they highlighted "systematic violence," "feminicide," and the desecration of women's bodies as weapons of war.

The statement specifically flagged the siege of Kobane — the city known for the defeat of ISIS – where a blockade led to the cutting off of water, food, and electricity and the deaths of several children.

"The current war against the peoples of North and East Syria is an aggression against all of us," activists said, calling on women in India and the rest of the world to recognise this struggle as their own.

They welcomed the January 30 halt to the war, following a period of intense violence, and demanded a sustainable peace that constitutionally guarantees the rights of the Kurdish people and protects the hard-won achievements of the women's revolution.

Prominent signatories to the statement include economist Jean Dreze, dancer and activist Mallika Sarabhai, filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, former Lucknow University vice-chancellor Roop Rekha Verma, writer Ram Puniyani, and activist Shabnam Hashmi.

Rojava, the mainly Kurdish self-governed region in Northeast Syria, has seen renewed fighting as Syrian government forces and allied groups move to regain control, with shelling and civilian casualties reported despite ceasefire attempts.

On January 30, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian government agreed on a ceasefire deal aimed at stabilising a pause in fighting and laying out steps for phased integration of forces and institutions. PTI AO VN VN