We are associated with GIA (Group of Intellectuals and Academicians), which was started in 2015. The group takes up different issues, which are ailing the country. GIA, an all-women Group of Intellectuals and Academicians, consists of a President awardee, professors, Supreme Court advocates, entrepreneurs, internationally renowned artists, and other women achievers from all walks of life. It is a forum for these women to articulate their opinions freely based on fact-based, rational discourses in response to current issues facing the country.Lalita Nijhawan is also a primary member of GIA (Group of Intellectuals and Academicians), an all-women’s body that holds seminars and writes articles on current issues. Ms Nijhawan is the Managing Editor of the GIA magazine.
So far GIA (Group of Intellectuals and Academicians), has actively stood for the justice of innocents who have been the victim of unusual circumstances.
The horrifying murder of Dr Pankaj Narang and the subsequent coverage by eminent media houses has raised more questions than answers. Even as a young dentist's precious life was extinguished at the hands of senseless, merciless, and cowardly hooligans, neither our respected journalists nor our political benefactors have paid heed to the fact that the gruesome deed was more of an instance of communal hatred rather than just another instance of road rage. The muted response of Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, on this matter has been unnerving to say the least. It was not long ago that Mr Kejriwal found adequate time to march forward with his political flagstaff in Dadri and Hyderabad while choosing not to pay even a single visit to the bereaved family of Dr Narang in Vikaspuri. This leads me to question whether all the drama surrounding the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party showing solidarity with victims and their kin is merely a case of hearts bleeding selectively. We all know how Mr Kejriwal reached out to the kin of the deceased in the Dadri lynching case. Why then, has a similar response not come from the same person in this case? Just because the Hindu community does not get together and behave as one vote bank, can Mr Kejriwal dismiss the killing of this dentist as one Hindu vote? Additionally, how can we be certain that if someone like Dr Narang can lose his life to a bunch of ill-meaning people, can the same not happen to us? Wake up, Mr Chief Minister! It is high time that the people of Delhi, who put you in the position that you are right now, get more than just a hypocritical response from their elected leader. Finally, the efforts of the fact finding team of GIA (Group of Intellectuals and Academicians) needs to be applauded for their meticulous ground level work in separating fact from fiction behind this unfortunate incident. #JusticeForDrNarang.
In the wake of the horrific rape and murder of Jisha, a law student from Kerala, GIA (Group of Intellectuals & Academicians) formed a fact-finding team of their own, went to Kochi and gathered a first-hand report of the situation at present. The team went to the hospital where the victim's mother is admitted and talked at length with her. The GIA team also got an opportunity to talk with Deepa, the victim's bereaved sister. Thereafter, the team visited the neighbourhood where Jisha used to live and interacted with her neighbours and friends. Following this, a meeting was set up with the head of the local Panchayat and a leader from the Dalit community to understand the situation in a more holistic way. The team addressed a Press Conference at the Ernakulam Press Club to conclude their visit and is now in the process of compiling a report to be submitted to National Commission for Women, SC/ST Commission, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, and the Home Minister, Rajnath Singh. GIA hopes that its endeavours will help in delivering #JusticeForJisha.
In the wake of atrocities on police personnel and paramilitary forces in the state of Jammu & Kashmir by anti-national elements, GIA women took out a protest march on July 19 to express solidarity to the police, the CRPF, and the army. We want their hands to be strengthened by the Central and State Governments, and by the citizens as a whole. As a unit, we believed it was high time to take out a protest March against anti-national forces within the country, who have now taken to social media to put up anti-Army posts and tweets for political gains. Our message of solidarity has reached the Hon'ble Home Minister of India, Shri Rajnath Singh. Even the policemen deployed for the march felt proud about the fact that we had come on our own in their support.
The idea behind this protest march was to boost the morale of the security forces and share our message with the media and the Government, a task successfully achieved. Before GIA took out this march, members from the group were receiving a large number of calls from Indians living in India and abroad in support of our cause. On the day which Pakistan declared as a "black day", women from GIA wanted to make it a "white day", and we did just that. As citizens of India we took a pledge on July 19, 2016, to preserve and protect the unity, integrity, and sovereignty of our nation and not let terrorism of any form flourish on our soil.
GIA (Group of Intellectuals and Academicians) took out a Protest March from Constitution Club to India Gate against the recent anti-national activities in the country beginning from anti-India and pro-terrorists sloganeering in JNU on 9th February. Hundreds of people from different spheres of life participated in the massive march. A memorandum was submitted to the President of Press Club of India and another one to the Honorable Union Home Minister demanding strict action against the perpetrators of such nefarious anti- India activities and thoroughly probe the nexus between such elements and all the extremists in India and elsewhere who provide moral, psychological, financial and logistic support. These incidents should not be looked into isolation but their continuous links be thoroughly probed. One such link could be a series of tweets by Hafiz saeed in support of those JNU students.