Women's Reservation Bill will inspire women around world: Kalvakuntla Kavitha
London (PTI): Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Kalvakuntla Kavitha said the Women's Reservation Bill will inspire many women around the world to come forward in public life and called on women across continents to mobilise around the issue.
During an interaction organised by the think tank Bridge India in London on Friday night, the BRS Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) addressed a diaspora audience at Central Hall Westminster near the Houses of Parliament on the topic of Gender Equality in India's Political Representation'.
The daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, who was virtually mobbed by the cheering diaspora crowds, highlighted the progress made in her own state that is leading the way in the representation of women in politics.
"We are the world's most populous nation, and we are about 70 crore women; if a very positive change were to happen to the women of our nation, I believe the world should know because that will inspire many, many, many more women to come forward in public life, to become active participants in policy making," Kavitha told PTI with reference to her London tour.
"This bill, I'm very confident, will enable that to happen to the women of our nation, India, and India's progress will see more and more participation of women, that is the hope," the 45-year-old politician said.
The Women's Reservation Bill, which seeks to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, received the Parliamentary nod on September 21. President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the bill on September 28.
Asked about stronger representation of women within political parties in the country, Kavitha admitted that parties have traditionally been slow in addressing the matter satisfactorily.
"I would say India is a much younger democracy, which is 75 years old. There are many democracies across the globe which are 200 years old or more who have still not been able to reach the extent and level of women participation that we have reached today," she said.
"But that being said, the parties have to take the onus on themselves to make sure more and more women come in. And obviously, it's not happening, so it is for the Election Commission to step in. It is for more laws to be put in place to protect the places for women," she noted.
During her charged address that drew applause and cheers from the crowd, Kavitha said it "pained" her to state that inequality in public life is a reality around the world. She traced the journey of the Women's Reservation Bill that she had been campaigning for and was passed in the Lok Sabha last month from former prime minister Deve Gowda in 1996 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2023.
"I sincerely thank all of them from the bottom of my heart for making this bill a reality. This is not just politics, but this is the respect these people have shown to the women of this great nation," she said.
She added, "When I say Women's Reservation Bill, it is not only to make 181 women members of Parliament, but it is about billions and billions of women. When we talk about women, countries don't matter, there are no borders."
"Across the globe, I don't know how men managed to subjugate us for centuries. Now, the time has come that women across continents should connect, and should take up these issues. Today, if India has this bill and some other country does not, I think it is the duty of Indian women to go help our sisters there," she said.
During some light-hearted moments in her hard-hitting speech, she acknowledged her very "strong opinions" and cautioned men to get used to hearing many more strong opinions from "our sisters".
She also referenced the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which has a connection to Telangana, given its roots in the Golconda mines. The MLC said while the discussion over the return of the infamous diamond to India will "go on forever", "at least give us back Vijay Mallya" referencing the former Kingfisher Airlines chief based in the UK and wanted in India on fraud and money laundering charges.
Earlier on Friday, Kavitha commenced her tour to the UK with a visit to the Ambedkar Museum in north London and spoke of how she drew great inspiration from the principles of the architect of the Indian Constitution in her fight for gender equality.
MLC Kavitha's itinerary in the UK includes engagements with Indian diaspora groups, discussions on collaborative initiatives and participation in events to foster cultural exchange between the two countries.
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Netanyahu recommends his Cabinet approve Hezbollah cease-fire proposal
Beirut, Nov 26: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.
The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon's Litani River, a focal point of the emerging deal.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.
Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel.
Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all sides, the deal would be a major step toward ending the Israel-Hezbollah war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah's patron, Iran.
The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides' compliance.
But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, doesn't provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.
“If you don't act, we will act, and with great force,” Katz said, speaking with UN special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel's security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France.
“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting. He said France would participate on the ceasefire implementation committee at Lebanon's request.
Bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs continues
Even as Israeli, US, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah's military capabilities.
An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city's downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Earlier, Israeli jets struck at least six buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs. One strike slammed near the country's only airport, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. The airport has continued to function despite its location on the Mediterranean coast next to the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah's operations are based.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in the suburbs, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where UNIFIL is headquartered.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate.
Other strikes hit in the southern city of Tyre, where the Israeli military said it killed a local Hezbollah commander.
The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometres from the Israeli border.
Previous ceasefire hopes were dashed
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest Iranian-backed force in the region, would likely significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It's not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since.
Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country's north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon.
After previous hopes for a ceasefire were dashed, U.S. officials cautioned that negotiations were not yet complete and noted there could be last-minute hitches that delay or destroy an agreement.
“Nothing is done until everything is done,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
While the ceasefire proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security Cabinet, one hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would oppose it. He said on X that a deal with Lebanon would be a “big mistake” and a “missed historic opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”
