Activists Back Rojava Women, Call for Lasting Peace in Syria

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 claimed that the Syrian Interim Government and fundamentalist groups are currently waging a "genocidal campaign of destruction" against the "Democratic Autonomous Administration," which they defined as a unique example of free and equal coexistence governed by women.

"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 claimed that since January 6, the situation has drastically worsened due to the kidnapping and sexual abuse of women by fundamentalist organisations, and that the interim administration, led by interim president al-Shaara, has practically declared war on this democratic process.

The signatories emphasised "systematic violence," "feminicide," and the defilement of women's bodies as weapons of war, claiming that the present increase is a direct attack on women's rights.

The statement specifically mentioned the siege of Kobane, the city where ISIS was defeated, where a blockade resulted in the deaths of multiple children and the cutoff of food, water, and electricity.

"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.

Economist Jean Dreze, dancer and activist Mallika Sarabhai, filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University Roop Rekha Verma, author Ram Puniyani, and activist Shabnam Hashmi are among the notable signatories to the statement.

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.

The Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reached a ceasefire agreement on January 30 with the goal of maintaining a fighting pause and outlining procedures for the gradual integration of forces and institutions.