Shamima Ali [left] and Opposition Member of Parliament Premila Kumar

Opposition Member of Parliament Premila Kumar claims Fiji Womens Crisis Center coordinator Shamima Ali is no defender of women’s rights and is using women’s rights to further the careers of her political allies and their own personal agendas.

Kumar says Ali will always be remembered as the person who took the Fiji Women’s Crisis Center down the dark path of compromising women’s rights, by aligning herself with specific political parties and politicians and thus taking the feminist movement in Fiji back decades.

She says she will also be known as a supposed feminist who stood by silently as her favorite politicians and political parties mistreated women and abused human rights.

Kumar says the FWCC shamelessly made a statement after the elections that domestic violence had decreased because people were happy with the government, yet ignored her own claim a month later when police announced that violence and crime had in fact increased.

The Opposition MP says there has been unprecedented interference in independent institutions, the judiciary, and constitutional breaches, many of which have directly and indirectly impacted women.

Kumar sys Ali attributed the assault of an elderly Indo-Fijian woman to the FijiFirst Government in another bizarre and tragically irresponsible statement.

She says no matter how much she denies it, Indo-Fijians as a community were guaranteed safety and security under the Fijian Constitution and under the leadership of the FijiFirst Government.

She says former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama put more girls and young women in schools and universities, thus providing all women with more opportunities than ever before.

Kumar adds that Bainimarama gave more rights and opportunities to women than Shamima and her entire entourage of political allies combined.

She says feminism must exist to empower and protect women and must include the efforts of all Fijians, regardless of their political beliefs, ethnicity, religion, province or socio-economic status.

Kumar says it’s plainly obvious that the likes of politically compromised pseudo-feminists like Shamima Ali cannot do justice for Fijian women.

She says that is why it is high time that Ali politely vacates her almost 40-year role as the head of the FWCC for an honest politically neutral person who can actually carry out the core duties of the FWCC and provide real and tangible help to all Fijian women.

Meanwhile, Fiji Womens Crisis Center says they will not make any comment at this stage.