Jai Bhim, As-salamuAlaykum

It is no secret that Dalit and Muslim communities today are two of the most marginalized sections in Indian society. We, the women of these communities are at the intersections of bearing many layers of discrimination and marginalisation. Added to this is the reality that our causes have long been appropriated and the mic has been taken away from us, even when many of us are capable of voicing our own concerns. We as Dalit and Muslim women look for solidarity, not appropriation.

Zariya, founded in 2020, which literally translates into ‘Means’ is a humble initiative to bring our issues to the fore. The everyday lived realities of Dalit and Muslim women are very similar to each other, there are ofcourse differences but none so big that can stop us from working together, towards the betterment of our own. The initiative aims to bring together our women from marginalised backgrounds, Dalit, Muslim, Adivasi and address our concern: right from livelihood and education to documenting stories of our struggle. We want to write our own stories, have our voice heard.

We are not part of any political party and adhere to Indian constitutional values and ethos. We have zero tolerance for sexual abuse/harassment/violence of any kind. We pledge to try our honest best to work for and with all our sisters who identify themselves as women from marginalised backgrounds.