Changing Terms of Political Discourse: Women's Movement in India, 1970s-1990s

Author(s): Indu Agnihotri and Vina Mazumdar

Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 30, No. 29 (Jul. 22, 1995), pp. 1869-1878
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
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 Changing Terms of Political Discourse
Women'sMovementin India,1970s-1990s
InduAgnihotri
Vina Mazumdar
The revolutionarychanges whichfollowed the two world wars createdfora and structures that promoted debates
on wonmen's rights. By the beginning of the 1990s however, the international context in which the struggle for the
advance of women's rights was being waged had been transformed.Debates being actively promoted today twist the
verypremises and values on which the movementhad been based. It is against the backgroundof these developments
which have influenced the women's movementin India that one must evaluate the goals and directions of the movement
and locate its strengths and weaknesses.

I which the movement developed in recent question faded from the public arena
Introduction years, these would be (a) the decadal thrtist [GOT 1974; Mazumdar 1978].
provided by the preparationsfor the UN This is not to imply that no struggles
THE 20th centurv promoted the cause of Conference in Mexico, and the initiatives were waged during this period. But, with
gender justice by internationalising coming fortfi from the Non-Aligned the exception of the tempo built up before
struggles for equality by women and other Movement in this context; (b) the history the passage of the Hindu Code Bill, 1956,
oppressed people. Women's struggles of and relationship between earlier these could not form the basis of spurring
againsttheirsubordinationwere intertwined movements for freedom, equality and agitations which could catch the public
in varying degrees with ideologies and democracy,valueswhichweresubsequently imagination, cuttingsectionaldemandsand
movementsbased on the values of freedom, enshrined as basic political tenets in the organisations.
self-determination, equality, democracy Constitution of India, and the constraints In contemporaryIndia the resurgenceof
and justice. Confined earlier by locale or felt towards achievement of these in the women's movement and its contours
limited foci, these now found expression independentIndia, and (c) the influence of have to be seen in the light of: (I) The crisis
through movements against imperialism, ideas coming across through the various of state and government in the 70s going
for national liberation and social streams of the women's liberation into the emergency; (2) the post-emergency
transformation.The defeat of fascism and movements of the west. Thus equality, uipsurgein favour of civil rights; (3) the
the forced retreat of imperialism around democracy anidfreedom were at the same mushroomingof women's organisationsin
the mid-century paved the way for social time, actual, notional andideological goals the early 1980s and the arrivalof women's
advance of which gender relations were a which the women's movement addressed issue on the agenda; (4) the mid-1980s,
key componenltalong with the other broad in all their connotations including specific marked by a fundamentalist advance; and
objectives of human rights and the end of gender perspective and components. the 1990s, when the crisis has deepenedwith
iniquitoussocial orders.The revolutionary regard to state, government and society.
changes which followed the two world II The women's movement in India is one
wars also created fora and structures that The Indian Movement of the manyburgeoningeffortsatreassertion
promoteddebates on women's rights. The of citizen's claims to participateas equals
International Women's Decade was Although in India colonial rule and the in the political and development process.
initiated during this period of hope which freedom struggle markedthe beginning of This places it in a situation of direct
also posited a new InternationalEconomic an awakening among women, differing confrontationwiththeforcesof conservatism
Order.By the end of the decade, however, streams within the anti-imperialist anti- and reaction.The fundamentalistonslaught
this hope was already shaky [Mair 1985]. feudal struggle posited different, even in one country after anotherhave exposed
In the mid- 1990s, the context in which the contentious images of identities for women the vulnerability of women's advance in
international struggle for advance of [SangaliandVaid 1989]. But the nationalist most places. In the third world as well as
women's rights is being waged has been consensus symbolised in the Fundamental erstwhile socialist states, however, the
transformed. Debates being actively Rights Resolution of the Indian National combination of these with the onset/
promotedtoday twist the very premises and Congress, 1931, postulated freedom, acceleration of free market capitalism has
values on which the movement had been justice, dignity and equality for women as both strengthened the powers of the
based. Terms like empowerment, choice, essential for nation-building. The oppressors, as well as created new
reproductivefreedom, spiritual autonomy, Constitution assured these rights. In the instruments for hegemony, by weakening
etc, arebeingappropriatedby forcesinimical post-independence period, however, the balancing mechanismnsand ideologies
to the goals of the women's movement.Can women exploring avenues for socio- thatsought to place limits on theirrapacity.
the movement ensure the continued economic and political mobility came up In India the mid-1980s have seen an
existence of fora to mount pressure for against the limitations of a third world ex- onslaughton even existing rightsof women
intervention in favour of more equitable colonial state. This posed conflicts between through a harking back to 'tradition' and
gender relations - both. at the level of their new rights and the values carefully 'culture' and the positing of images which
internationalrealpolitik.as well as at ground promotedby a longstandingpatriarchal social emphasise women's reproductive role as
level processes'? hierarchy. Social disabilities and gradual the only natural, historical one. The
It is importantto note these international isolation from the politico-ideological fundamentalist/revivalist face of many
developments since they have influenced struggles that were shaping the nation- social movements today is directlyopposed
the movement in India from the start. If buildingprocess led to the fragmentationof to the radicaldemandsandupsurgescoming
we were to spell out the parameterswithin the women's movement and the women's from below.

Economiicand Political Weekly July 22, 1995 1869

 These decades in India have markedthe the sex-ratio, increasing gender gaps in complexity of India's social and political
end of the age of complacency, apathy and life-expectancy, mortality and economic entity of a democracy-in-making,as well as
acceptance of the existing social order. participation, or the rising migration rate a democracy endangered.
Undoubtedly. these stem from both were disturbing enough. Combined with
problems of transition as well as the this was the utter failure of state policy to III
outcome of the world's largest experiment live up to its constitutional mandates in Violence: Case of Expanding Arenas
in democracy. Shifts in foci and awareness any field of national development. The
of problems that impinged on women's CSWI noted clear linkages between From its earliest phase in the late 1970s,
lives, the social construction of gender existing andgrowing social andeconomic the contemporary women's movement
relations and the identity of women from disparities and women's status in perceived growing violence as a major
dif'ferentclasses in theirattemptsto resolve education, the economy, society and the issue, bringing 'visibility' to the movement
the problems of the national economy and polity [GOI 1974:234], puttingthe demand itself. This identification violence has also
polity occurred during a period of for equality on an akctualhistorical terrain. been interpretedin many ways, by analysts
dissolving certainties that characterised It also formed a startingpoint for women's of the movement. Primarily of course, it
local, national or global systems. studies.' hasbeen seen as a 'rallyingcry' or a 'rallying
This changing character and the In this paperwe have confined ourselves point'.
contradictions are reflected within the to the movement's responses to violence, Violence, however,is perpetratedthrough
governmental structuresand in a shifting fundamentalism and the debate on thegiven institutionsof thestate,community,
attitudetowardsthe women's movement.A economic role and processes. We have the family and society at large. It draws
major question facing all governments in focused on these not only because of sustenancefromprevailingideologies which
office has been how to respond to the limitations of space, but because we see seek to propagate status quoism through
movement and its demand to place the a close link between the marginalisation advocacyof 'falling-in-line',be itin response
women's question on the political agenda. of women as economic beings (a trend to transgression of social norms or laws,
The government's response has been which is now on the rise despite the which are defended in the name of age-old
teetering bctween responding to the movement's interventionsin the lastdecade customs and tradition, religious or caste
conservativeor the radicalforces in dealing and a half) and the rising trendof violence identities,or even political dissidence. Such
with the women's question. targeting women. In India today the most status quoists perceived the movement's
The women's movement, in turn, has moderntechniques of propagandaare used adoption of violence as a threat to basic
mounte(d pressures on the state and to project women as consumers and social institutionslike thefamily,community
government from the opposite end of the reproductivebeings ratherthan producers; and constructionof gender roles developed
spectrumi} Itself experiencing major and, above all as members of one or other by the elites and projected as universal to
transformaitions,it has grown immensely particular community which seeks to "Indian"culture- at all levels. Over the
despitepressuiresfromdiverse areas.Within establish its political identity by right of decades, however, there has been a change
the movement diversities manifested birth, religion or culture. Fundamentalism in this perception.
themselves in many ideological cleavages provides an ideological framework while
and fragmented,regionally uneven growth. globalisationandglorificationof the market RAPE
But the issues on which women tirst provides the operative instrument to
articulatedtheir visible opposition covered demolish women's claims to equality, It was the widespread, national level
a vast terrain- ranging from those which freedom and dignity as individuals. This campaign, in the course of 1979-80, on the
were gender-specific to those which awesome combination poses a challenge Mathuracase which broughtwomen's issues
impinged on citizen's rights, class which is forcing women's organisations ontothepublicagenda.The SupremeCourt's
formations, values and the direction of social into rethinking, soul-searching and acquittalof two policemen involved in the
transformation. questioning of their roles and identitics in rapeof a minortribalgirl broughtto the fore
The main concerns of the movement, as the reshaping of the struggle. several crucial aspects of women's
it emerged,were laidout in the issues opened This, however, does not mean that the oppression,viz, the roles of class and caste
up by the report of the Committee on the movementhasnotintervenedin othercritical in oppression of women, and the issue of
Status of Women in India (CSWI) which sectors that affect the overall processes of accountability of public servants and the
drew attention to the wide diversities in national transformation, e g, education, judiciary in achieving the constitutional
'culturally'prescribedgenderrolesin India's science, technology, researchand develop- guarantees.Th6se were pointedly raisedby
pluralsociety. The committeeraisedserious ment, managementof naturalresourcesand fourlaw teachersin theirprotestto the chief
doubts about the 'development' or food security. We have here focused on justice.
'modernisation'modelsthatnotonly ignored three main aspects which are critical
therealdifferencesthatrevolvedroundcaste, determinants in the struggle for gender Must illiterate,labouring,politicallymute
class andethnic history,butexaggeratedthe Mathuras of Indiabecontinuallycondemned
equality. to their pre-Constitutional
India fate?...I
influence of religion, culture and 'social The focus on these themes reflects both
attitudes' on gender role prescriptions. the views of the authorsas well as that of Though the agitation sparked off by the
Questioning the continued 'invisibility of activists in the movement. The method Mathuracase led to significant changes in
women' in areas/sectors where they were followed is one of fairly widespread the Evidence Act, the Criminal Procedure
largely involved, the CSWI pleaded for a consultation with activists through Code and the IndianPenal Code, including
renewedconcernthat would reflect real life workshopsorganisedin differentregions to the introductionof a category of custodial
issues and aspirations of the majority of get a feedback on what activists considered rape, the changes introduced were not
women [GOI 1974:3]. to be the majorissues looking back on the sufficient. The concept of power rape was
This disenchantmentof women with the lasttwo decades.2Thepaperdoesnotattempt resistedandhas only recentlybeen admitted
post-independence'development' scenario to write a history of the movement. It only through an amendment in the Civil Rights
was not a stance dictated by exogenous focuses on the issues, trendsand challenges Act. Significant loopholes nevertheless
political considerations. Demographic as these have emerged while locating remain, both with regardto the law and its
indicators like the accelerated decline in women in the overall context of the implementation.

1870 Economic and Political Weekly July 22, 1995

 While the movement's understandingof on the issue of domestic violence. The more,andalso achieved more.The question
the issue has widened, su- ess has been successive campaigns brought into focus that may be raised is, was it and is it
limiteddue to bothlacunaein the conceptual the trauma women undergo within the possible to fight dowry in a social context
definition as well as monitoring of confines of the ever-enduring family, where both caste and consumerism are
procedures.The definition of rapedoes not glamorised by policy-makers and elite penetratingdeeper? Matrimonialcolumns
extend to maritalrape and anomalies exist groups in general, as "thebasic foundation of leading dailies now proudly classify
between the Child MarriageRestraintAct of Indian society". advertisements along caste lines, and
andtherapelaw in thatconsentis notrequired By 1982 organisations in Delhi and consumerism has spread its tentacles far
for intercoursein marriagebefore the age elsewhere built up formidableevidence of and wide in Indian society. The DVCM's
of 18. Also, whereas the characterof the dowry-relatedmurdersbeing passed off as demand of comprehensive legislation
victim is not supposedto be a consideration 'suicide' or accidents [Kishwarand Vanita including changes in the whole gamut of
in determining rape, clauses in earlier 1984;Kumar1992].Inseveralcases activists inheritance/succession/property laws has
legislationto the contraryeffect continue to had themselves recorded the dying gone unheeded, promptingeven feminists/
be used and even the Supreme Court has declarationof victims and urged the courts erstwhile feminists to "rethink" dowry
violated the principle of custodial rape on to treatthisas evidence.Newspaperhcadlines [Kishwar 1988a; 1988b]. Dowry, far from
this count. There is also the element of screamingly remindedreadersthat 'dowry being a 'deep-rooted'Indiantradition,is the
'provocation'or, as the SupremeCourt put deaths' were on the increase. But the fastest way to make quick money in India
it recently while reducing the sentence in government, the police and other official while also claiming social sanction and
one case, inabilityto resisttemptationso thatagenciesalongwithsocietyatlargeslumbered legitimacy [Srinivas 1983]. In fact despite
rape became a 'crime of passion'. Apart in insensitivity and the convenient middle the most visible solidarity shown on the
from all this there is the inability and class ploy was used to dismiss tortureof a issue in the media, concerned women
unwillingness of the state machineryto act young bride as an 'internalfamily matter'. parliamentariansand activists, the issue has
in a manneras to collect evidence in order It was a consistent, widespread mass todaybeen relegatedto the backgroundfrom
to prove rape. As has been highlighted in campaignbothindividuallyby organisations thepubliceye in theface of more 'immediate'
the case of rape of nuns in Gujraula,UP, and jointly under the aegis of the Dahej and 'pressing' problems, which are not
the law leaves sufficient loopholes for VirodhiChetnaManch(DVCM) thatfinally altogether separate from the social agenda
agencies such as the concerned police and mountedpressureon the governmentto act, inherentin the anti-dowrycampaign.In fact
medical personnel to not act, with perfect if only out of politicalexpediency.The Law with the given state of a son-preferencein
impunity. Of late, the movement is Commissionundertooka suo motustudyon Indianmindsamniocentesisandsex-selection
emphasisinlgthe rising trend in child rape, improving the law to combat this social also draw their rationale from the dowry
and demanding new legislation to combat menace more effectively. The parliament menace.
the trend. appointeda joint committeeof both houses
of parliamentto review the working of the AND SFX SELEC-rION
AMNIOCEN1ESIS
ANTI-DOWRY AGITATION Dowry ProhibitionAct. Though members
were drawn from all political parties, it In 1974 the department of human
Ot'all the agitations focused on violence includedseveralleadersof nationalwomen's cytogenetics, All India Instituteof Medical
the one that most touched the public organisations and led to one of the rare Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, started a
imagination, the media and the widest occasions of "all the women speaking with samplesurvey with the aid of amniocentesis
sections outside the pale of organisations, one voice" [Government of India 1981; to detect foetal abnormalities.By 1975, the
was thatwhich protestedagainstdowry and Palriwala 1985].4 AIIMS knew that the tests were being
dowry-relatedviolence. It is the anti-dowry Whatcame into focus in the course of the followed by abortion of female toetuses.
agitation which emerged as a rallying cry. campaign was a clear link between dowry While the AIIMS tests were stopped by
The 'atrocitiesagainst women' headline, and the urge to accumulateconsumeritems 1979, reports came in from Amritsar in
attracted attention in the post-emergency as well as mobilise resourcesto be used as Punjabwheremedicalentrepreneursopenly
scenarioof 'excesses', and the 'Brides Are 'investment'or 'capital'to startpettybusiness advertised their services referring to
Not for Burning' slogan focused media or enterprise [Karat and Agnihotri 1993]. daughtersas a 'liability' to the family and
attention both in India and abroad on These facts were so stark that for the high a 'threat' to the nation's population
women's lives. The question has often been court to assert that the giving of gifts was problem. Expectant parentswere exhorted
posed, whether it perpetuatedthe 'women customary was sure to invite the wrath of to avail of the services of clinics to rid
as victim' syndrome? But for those who women's organisations. The irony of the themselves of the daughters to come. At
becamecrusadersin the tight againstdowry high courtassertionseemed greaterin view a meeting convened in New Delhi in July
the movementtransmitteda pulsatingsense of the fact that in 21 years since the Dowry 1982 a three-pointposition was arrivedat
of energy which over time got transformed ProhibitionAct of 1961,only one conviction wherin: (a) government was requested to
into a brand'of activism which asserted had taken place. restrictuse of amniocentesisto only teaching
women's agencyin social change. Itwas this However, as anyone in the movement and researchestablishments;(b) the Indian
public assertion of what had till then been would today testify, even as increasing MedicalCouncilwas requestedto takesevere
seen as a privateagenda,which shook older 'cases' of harassment and torture are action against members indulging in
organisations from a seemingly unending registered with the numerous complaint unethical practices; and (c) women's
slumber. cells as well as legal aid centres,the menace organisationswereto remainvigilantagainst
One of the amendments in the Criminal of dowry has increased mainfold. Did the the spread of the practice for commercial
Law, Section 498-A, passed in the wake focus shift from fighting dowry to only purposes [Mazumdar 1994].
of the agitation, encompassed for the first highlightingdowrydeaths,asks an activist? While government did issue some
time a definition of cruelty which included Why could we not end dowry, ask others? circulars to this effect, not such action
not just physical but mental cruelty as Thereareno simple answers.While analysts followed. In the meantime the sex deter-
well. One of the most commonly used have critiqued the movement for an mination business had came to stay, with
clauses in cases filed by women, the emphasis on legal remedies, the fact is that clinics spreading even to small towns and
invoking of the clause has in eff'ectfocused the movement addressed itself to much informationon this count reachingfamilies

Economic and Political Weekly July 22, 1995 1871

which were otherwise unaware of tech- increasing leave provisions for abortions. Claiming sanction and power to wield
nological advances. Today the business These concerns were articulatedforcefully authorityon the basis of various brandsof
flourishes more rampantlyin North India, before a recentexpertcommittee appointed identities, there is in contemporary India
wherein some placeswhich earlierpractised by governmentof Indiato drafta new national a powerful ganging-up of conservative and
femaleinfanticide,femalefoeticidehascome populationpolicy.6The committee's report, reactionary forces which aggressively
in. From the south. alarming reports have while upholding gender equity as crucial, impose moral prescripts. Where other
come in of' the prevalence of female in- and declaring its position as pro-poor,pro- processes fail, genderequalityandwomen's
tfanticideamong the Kallarsin Tamil Nadu. women and pro-nature, recommends rights to freedom is opposed through
Ironically, this was not a tradition of the disincentives and other measuresthat have intimidation, humiliation and violence in
community. Approval and connivance for united many women's organisations in complete violation of normsof civil society.
thepracticearebeinggrantedby anemerging protestandone womanmemberdissociating What is important is that even as the
newprosperouscommunityleadershipwhich herself from the recommendations".'It has movement for women's rights has
includes educated professionals as well as also stirred up a public debate. strengthened, there is the opposite
politicians. phenomenonof increasingsocial acceptance
In 1985, The Forum Against Sex- POLITICAL
VIOLENCE of violence andits use for politicalpurposes.
Determination and Sex-Pre-Selection Thisviolenceis limitedneithertothepersonal
(FASDSP) was formed in Bombay. The Ina highlychargedpoliticalenvironment, spherenor to the frameworkof m an-woman
Forumaddresseditself to theentirespectrum violence against women too is viewed relationships [Karat and Agnihotri 1993].
of new reproductivetechnologies. It sought through coloured lenses. Whereas the It is notable that response from social
wideralliances,undertooksurveys,andtiled movement has attempted to contextualise scientistson the themeof violence in general
a public interest litigation. A private the woman victim on the basis of prevalent and specific to women has not been very
member's bill introduced in the state social inequalities, the prevalent divisions illuminating. There have been few studies
assembly, forced the government to move in society take the edge out of the of the patternsof violencelvr even causal
into action. The bill, finally adoptedby the condemnationof the crime per se. Thus in analysis [Das 1990; Datar 1993]. While the
Maharashtra governmentin 1988hadseveral every incident of violence against women, movement itself identified violence against
lacunaeas does thecentralgovernment'sbill the attemptis made to underplaythe crime women in many ways and has expandedits
passed in July 1994. A question that has itself by focusing on the identity/positionof horizon in terms of definition of violence
arisen from these long campaigns and the the perpetratoras well as the victim in order also, correspondingperspectivesin termsof
debateis, whataboutthewomenwho practise to mobilise supporton the basis of defined analysis of the phenomenon are singularly
femalefoeticide or infanticide?The new law parametersof polarisation in the specific lacking. Within the movement of course
treats them as guilty and punishable. But context. These can be caste, community, differing perspectives continue to persist.
does a woman in India have the right to regional or even politico-ideological. Thus While there is a shift away from the earlier
choose or decide? rapeandotheratrocitiesinflictedon women emphasison domestic violence alone, there
aqd others in Nagaland, Manipur,Assam, is a simultaneoustrendof subsumingother
POPULATION POLICY Tripura,Punjab or Kashmirby the armed arenas of conflict - communal conflicts,
or par-militaryforces can be condoned by fundamentalism,even economic conflicts
A strange link has united sex-selection the administrationas well as government within 'violence against women'?
followed by temale foeticide and female under cover of action taken to put down Conceptually,this gives primacyto a gender
infanticide. Both cite national population subversive activities. A more perverse perspective,but it oversimplifiesconflict in
concerns as the instigation for these anti- definitionof pro-nationalactivityin complete other spheres and other levels of societal
women acts. The government of India's violationof constitutionalguarantees,human existence, by reducing them to a one-
currenteffortsto formulatea new population rights as well as women's rights wQuldbe dimensional affair. Such conceptualisation
controlpolicy in consultationwith or at the difficult to find. It is-this 'teachinga lesson' also ignores differences in perception of
behest of its international benefactors, to curb dissidence (whatever its shape or these variedconflicts amongdiverse groups
include a series of measures foisted on form) which is disturbing.Given the trend of women.
women after the initial attempts at of growing criminalisation of politics in
vasectomy during the emergency period India, this form of violence can be crucial IV
met with stiff resistance. The notable in keeping women away from public life.' Fundamentalism and
features of this policy are that (a) it is In fact this also reflects a cynical societal Communalism
premised on the assumption of the responseto transgressionby womenof given
populationbombtheory;(b) women feature normsof social behaviour,which in turnare The wave of fundamentalistxenophobic
as the maintargetssince they arethe agency defined along lines of caste and status. upsurgessweepingacrosstheworldthreatens
of reproduction; (c) the contraceptives This applies to the increasing social the internationalwomen's movement as a
include steroids and hormonal injectables acceptance of violence against women. In whole. InIndiathecomplex social structures,
with long-term effects on the health of the recentyearstherehasbeena spateof incidents evonomic constraints and political
user; (d) no provision/consideration for of stripping, rape and other forms of opportunismhave providedample breeding
monitoring of impact.5 humiliation inflicted on dalits as well as groundforthegrowthof revivalistideologies
Women'sorganisationshavebeenfighting other women in different parts of the and identity politics. These have adopted
for several years against the entry of these country in recent years. This is in addition aggressive postures, showing scant regard
hazardous contraceptives which "exploit to earlier instance of lynching of women forthe IndianConstitutionorthefundamental
women's desperate need for 'safe' on suspicion of being 'witches'. Manyhave rights it guarantees.All religious, ethnic or
contraception",and proposalsfor coercive, seen in these the reflection of new political culturalfundamentalistsarebasicallyhostile
'fascist' punitivemeasuressuch as changes configurations and conflicts arising out of to genderequalitywhatevertherhetoricthey
in the Pcople s Representation Act to the aspirations of upwardly mobile profess.
disqualilythosewithii wirethantwo children, backward castes. This comes along with As early as 1983, 'a deal' was reportedly
and in the MaternityU. 'lcfjiteAct to restrict reassertion uf authority by traditional struckbetweenthe governmentof Indiaand
the benefits up to tfih children, while communityandreligion-basedstructures. theagitationfor
theAkaliDal,spearheading

1872 Economic and Political Weekly July 22, 1995

a Sikh state, to withdraw tlhe agitaltionIif' Petitionschaillengingthe new laiwas anti- and secularism as more positive. e:thicul
govcrnmeintof India accepted a separatc coinstitutionalarestill pendinghearingin the valties, and to discuss links with other
personal law for Sikhs, Ilhc hill dralftedhy Supreme Court. Meanwhilc, orgalnisations progressive organisations.'
the Dal would hlavedeprived Sikh women reportthatmanymoreMuslimwomen comc Activists express concern al the rupture
of their rights to a share in their tihers' to discuss their problemsand participatein with the essence of progressivemovements
property(providletd tindcrHinduSLIccession other campaigns ror womcn's rights."' of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The
Act 1956); of' right of' divorce except In September 1987 in Deoralai,a village growth of a metropolitan culture and
through the dispensation ol the religious in Rajasthan,Roop Kanwar,a young bride continueduse of Englishas theliingu,cafraw;ca
heads (against the provisioii of the Hindu burntto death sitting atop the funeral pyre of officialdom ollen makes the non-English
MairriageAct), andIwould have legitimisecd of herdeadhusband,while severalthouisands speaking feel alieniatedfrom the emerging
polygamy through thc customii of' cladar of people watchedandcven chantedslogans elite culturalethos.ThisdisjuLncti#e situation
andaz6,i,claimed as a 'Sikh custom'. Protests glorifying sati. Though a few in the media was capitalised by communal parties who
from national womcn's organisations and came out with strongstatementsagainstthe stepped in to fill the void.'4
others, backed by several Sikh wotmen. event, many played it up as irit was a return Of late there are many activists who have
including five villagc mahila mandals, to pristineglory, likening Roop Kanwarto cstablisheddialoguewithreformmovemcnts
apparently compelled GOI to change its a devi (goddess), who presented a sharp and women's groups coming up within the
mind and no bill was introduced. contrast to the urban elite, westernised religious framework. It is argued that this
1985 howevcr marked a shift in Indian feminist women who had disowned their is necessary since religion seems to be the
politics. Pro-liberalisationstatemcntg and traditionalvalues. Sati thereforewas sought only outletsanctionedby society foradvance
measuresby thegovernmenton theeconomic to be projectedas a sortof ethnicre-assertion of women's latent talents. There is also an
tront began to be combined with of indigenous womanhood." ongoing debateregardingretrievingreligion
compromiscsandeven advancinigthe cause The stategovernnientremainedparalysed, from fundamentalistsand highlighting the
of fundamentalists.P'eoplc'sdisenchantment despitemassiveprotestsby women's groups, progressiveaspectsof socio-religiousreform
with the nature and pace of India's and a courtorderto stop the celebrationsof movements. Others argue that such
developiicnt was soughit to be offset by the event. But protests from all over the instrumentaluse of religion, at this critical
successive governmllentsby playing the country forced the governmentof India to juncture of its politicalisation would not
'communalcard' with eacihcommunity to intervene,belatedly,witha quiteuinnecessary only be self def'eatinig,butmighteveniprove
win their suplport. and ineffcctive law againstboth the act and hazardous,since it mayleadto theassumption
May 1986 witnessed a total surrenderby the glorification of sati. A strange feature that rel'orm too can come only throughi
the govcrnmentto Islamic fundamentalism. of this law is to make the victim, if she preordained idioms in denial of secular
The MuslimWomen's (Protectionof Rights cscaped death. culpable for attempted space. Activists fromminor-itycommunities
on Divorce) Act 1986, deprived divorced suicide.'5 argue forcet'ullythat they can advanceonly
Muslim women of their right to seek Women's organisations, some sciolars if the majoritydoes so. Respectingpeople's
maintenalnce under section 125 of the andlegalexpertsarguedthatsatiwas murder, faitlis is one thing. But excessive
CriminalProce(lureCode, a secularlaw open that its worship in Rajasthanand elsewhere preoccupationwith religious'analysiswithin
to all communiities [Enginieer, 19871. was being encouragedby the rich Marwari the movement would endanger the fragile
The act came in the wake of a year-long businesscommunityandthe landedRajputs. solidarity that has been achieved.'5
debate on the Supreme Court judgment in They also prophesied that glorification of The movement has soiught to counter
the Shah Bano case. While upholding a such heinous crimes would encourage communal propaganda amongst women.
Muslinm woman's rightto this legal remedy violence as well as the positing ol a family Organisationshave interveniedaccordinigto
notavailableto themunderIslamic personal and community bound identity for women. their capacities in riot situationsto provide
law, the courtobservedthatit was higihtime relicf'aswell as to starita processol'dialogue
AYODIIYA: PRELUDE ANDAFTERMATH between womeii of dit'ferentcommunities.
for governmentto think ol a uniform civil
code. In the months thal followed. Muslim InDecember 1992whenaggrcssiveHindu Apart from several local initiatives by the
f'undamenltalistsorganised tlhemcselves for a fundamnenitalistsdemnolished a 500-year old myriadwomecn'sorganisationls.at least two
show-downiwith gover-niment, accusing it of tnosque in Ayodhya. claiming that it was a ralliesof'severalthousandwomeneach were
interferencewith Muslim Personal Law. It mandir(temple)whliichmarkedthebirthplace held in Ayodlya. 1989. andLucknow, 1992.
is no coincidenice that the campaign of Lord Rama. the government's paralysis Nevertiheless, as had been witnessed on
proceededalongside protestsagainst the:re- was fully exposed, indicating the depth of previouLioccasions, when a clash took place
opening of the gates of' the Babri masjid the criisisof state and government. It also betweeii women and fundamentalism,the
which Hindu fundamentalistsclaimed was deepened cynicism about the state's inaction of thc goverinmenton the plea of
the birth place of Lord Rama. Women's legitimacy. Thedemolitionalso sparked)off neutrality was a stance which itself
organisationscampaignedaniddrew support riots in sevcral parts of the country. constituted an active intervention.
from large numbers of Muslim women The overtly political manipulatiotis of 'I'hefundanmcnialist/communalist organi-
especially from the poorer sections, funcIamentalistsalso tound other victims. sations, aware of the ferment in women's
intellectuals anid reform groups trom the Several scholar s were threatened or minds,aretoday makinga bidlto cliannelise/
comnmunity against the bill. The Bharatiya harassedlor not adheringto fundamentalist harness the nascent consciousness about
JanataParty however, suddenly espoused versions while writing cultural. rcligious women'srightsfortheirownpurpose.Taking
the demand for the uniform civil code. or even literary histories with a gender advantageof women's deep attachmentto
Muslimfundamncjitalists responidedwith the tocus. There have becn several such religion they are today f'loating new
hysteriaof 'Islamin Danger'. Despite sharp indications of growing intoleranice.These organisations and f'ronts such as the
diflerences within the ruling party and the were notconfined to any single community. Hindu Mahila Sammelan and the Durga
resignationof a Muslim minister(who had Repeatedly. during discussions on the Vahini. wherein women's role as mothers,
opposedthe hill), the bill was enacted with moveimient.activists expressed the view piogenitors and defenders of the faith, etc,
the help of a three-line-wlhipissued by the that countering comnmunalpolitics is the airehighlighted along with their role in the
Congress to its members [Hasan 1989: greatest challenge before the movement. family. Fundamentalistsof all hues have
Palriwvala and Agnihotri 19931. Manyexpressedtheneedto define religion movcd in this dlirection.

Economic anidPolitical Weekly Jtilu 22. 1995 1873

 Awareness of the global nature of this (c) In none of the areas had women been focus in the search for alternativestrategies
threatonly increasesthe need to understand included in the peace committees set up to of'development- with organisedgrotipsof
the basis or reasons for the spread of restore normalcy; and womenfromthegrassrootsas primaryagents
lundatmentalistorcommunalideologies, and (d) No thought had been given to the of change.
their persistenthold on many women. The psychological rehabilitationof traumatised A new national government in 1977
connectionsbetweenistate, governmentand children, who witnessed acts of violence opened up various development policies
communialforces within the country are against their families. for review.'9 The combined pressure of a
apparent.But what arethe global forces that The delegation also came up with some group of women members of parliament
lie hidden behind this phenomenon? The questions about women's organisations in from different political parties, some
Indianexperiencecertaiinlydoes not support the context of Ahmedabad,for, concerned bureaucratsand a leading social
the interpretationof such movements as a even the most committed work among scientist (the late Raj Krishna)in the new
revoltagainstthespreadof materialistvalues. vulnerablesectionsof womenis notcapable PlanningCommissionled to theconstitution
Evidence is quite contraryto this thesis. On of enablingsuch women to liberatethem- of several working groups, to search for
the other hand, the anti-women face to the selvesfrom thepressuresof divisiveidentity alternative strategies to arrest the
new trend of communalism indicates a politics, without a conscious directionto marginalisationof the majorityof women -
rupture with past cultuLralvalues cutting confrontthis type of politics which is so especially the poorer- through prevalent
across religions. inimicaltowomen'srightsandthemovement developmentpolicies.Theseworkinggroups,
Given the patriarchalideology of famnily for equality [YWCA 1993:23-241. which included both women's studies
andcommunityhonour,duringriotswomen researchersand some activists, received as
were invariablythe primiarytargetsof attack V a major input a memorandumauthoredby
by the other group and were subjected to Women as Economic Beings the ICSSR's Advisory Committee on
rapeandhumiliationin orderto devalue and Women's Studies. The memorandum
demoralise membCrs of the 'other' If violencc was the rallying issue for highlighted the problems of inicreasing
comilnunity. However, activists feel that women's organiisations,the inarginalisation devaluationof women in the economy and
women's role as instigatorsof violence also and impoverishment of the majority of society, andrecommendedspecialstrategies
requires careful analysis which can only women within the transformingeconomy for employment, health and education.2"
emerge from developing greater insights became the entry point tor academics into These documents,along with the CSWI's
into the ways in which caste, community the movement.The CSWI's initial analysis report and some of its miajor
and gender intersect. This clhallenges an was basednmore on inferences, the cries of recommnendations were to form the initial
essentialist conistructionot the teminine thousandsof poorwomen acrossthecounitry thrustof demandsby a networkof national
idcltity.'I At the saime time, instances voiced before the committee, and women's organisations that came into
aboundof women playing a compassionate demographicevidence of a secular trendof existenice, informally in 1980. The
role in protecting membiersof the other decline in women's value in the economy memorandumlhdianiWomenin theEiglhties:
community. olten incurringpersonal risk. and society as a whole. The complexities of DeveoIopne/nilmi)eralives, one of the first
Such acts were also in contravenitionwith the relationslhipbetween macro-economic joint statements hy women's organisations
the expressly stated intenitof ideolo(gues changes and women's status issues - at stated that:
and the wishes ot their own ftamily or different levels of society - had been ...unlessexplicitprovisionfortheimperative
community groups. neglected by social analysts till then. The developmentalneeds of women is madein
These acts of compassion, however, need committee appealed to the social science the Sixth Five-YearPlan,the conditionsof
to be understood against the ideological community to study this relationshipon a women will continue to decline notwith-
rhetoricol communalism because many of continuous basis [GOI 19741. standingconstitutionalpledges ot equality
the woImlelnsubscribed to it. The cmergent Coincidinigwith the increasing intensity andjustice and the parliamnentary mlandate
paradoxwas women sympatlhisinig with the of critiques of the dominant model of forremovalof dispatritiesaiiddiscrimination
victimhood of the minoritygroups anldyet econonmicgrowth emanating from various [All IndiaWomen's Conference 19801.
mouthina particularly rabid ideological partsot the thirdworld, womeni'sstudies in It reconmmencded that the family/household
positions. Post-emergency India has seen India began and grew rapidly in its initial approaclhin programmethrustsbe replaced
many com1munalriots but the nature of stages to study this interaction.7 The by "explicit mention of' women as a target
violence witnessedin the last roundafterthe Women's Studies Programmeof the Indian group",since the 'invisibility' of women to
mosquedemolition episode was markedby Council of Social Science Research helped planners and administratorswas rooted in
the specitic targetingof women for sexual to startoff a researchprocess heavily biasedl the "tendencyto view women only through
attacks and perversitiesintlicted primarily in favour of 'invisible' women. i e, poor the screen of families and households and
on wotmienfrom the minority community. working women in rural and urban areas. not as individuals in their own right".This
A joint delegationl of niationalwomen's This focus not only fecdnew informationto reinforced the perspectives of women's
organisationswhichivisited threeof the riot- the movementbut transformedmany of the economic role as "marginal and
atffectedcities in February1992 found some academics into active participantsin the supplemental" [All India Women's
other signiflicant features [YWCA 1993]. women's movement, where they exerted it Conference 19801. The demands included
(a) The women who were the most aflected definite influence in the choice of priorities a special component approach with
in the riots were the ones whose needs were and lines of advocacy for dialogues with earmarkedresourcesand separatemonitoring
the 'least attendedto' and relief itself had policy-makers. The focus on economic atrrangemenitsin each of the sectorall
become a cause for 'f urther exploitation, themes by the Indian Association ot programmethrusts;inclusion of child care
corruption,poisonous propaganda"; Women'sStudiesin its NationalConferences centres within the Minimum Needs
(b) Over the years "sonme amount of facilitatedtheinteractionbetweenacademics Programme;andthedemandforjoint'pattas'
comMLUnalrelocationiof popullations'had and activists. (land titles) for women and men already
takenplace as an outcome of urbanhousing A thirdfactorwas the emergenceof some voiced by poor peasanitwomen.'
scheenes, which had contri buted to alienation large organisations of poor women in the Not surprisinglysome of the demandsled
and growth of suspicion along with lack of informalsector."The dynamismin struggle to a 'sharp exchange' with regard to the
communic:ationbetween gTroups; demonstratedby thesegroupsbecamea major "philosophy of the family-household

1874 Economic and Political Weekly July 22, 1995

approach".Theofficial representativescame government of India hosted the second in Delhi which was then followed by several
in for attack since the women maintained NAM Conferenceon Womenand Develop- state-level discussions.
that "the planners' defence of the family ment, and the official delegation included In their criti(ue of the NPP, women's
seemed to be motivatedby statusquoism" 22 several leaders of the national women's organisationspointed out thatthe proposed
Despitethegovernment'sreluctance- this organisations. Not content with this, the plan's recommendation to bring women
dialogue, backed by several womein MPs Delhi-based network of organisationsheld "into the mainstream of development"
fromoppositionpartieswho were members/ its own review a week before the NAM ignored "the reality of women's
leaders of a network of national women's Conferenceand separatelydistributedtheir marginalisation being the result of such
organisationresulted in the appearanceof report to all delegations [GOI 1985]. 'mainstream'development".Earlier,NAM's
a chapteroniWomen and Development in But the tide receded fast, for reasons New Delhi Documenthadalso admittedthat
the Sixth Five-Year Plan for the first time discussed earlier.The widening divergence marginalisationhadbeen "intensifiedby the
in the planninghistoryof India(Sixth Five- between the perspectiveof the government currentprocesses of economic change and
Year Plan 1980-85, Chapter 27). of Indiaand movement-basedinitiativeson may continue in future" [GOI 1985].
Acknowledginig the government's own genderroles,issues andparticipationbecame ThecritiquefoundthattheNPP'sapproach
tailureto achieve gender equality, the Plan clcar with the release of two documents in omittedthe earlierthrustfor convergenceot
stated explicitly that without economic 1988. economic and social services with
independence, equal access to education, Shranmshakti, the Report of the National organisation for collective strength and
skill-training,andfamily planningservices, Commissionon Self EmployedWomenand participation, and demonstrated a trend
the constitutional guarantee of equality Women in the InformalSector, to an extent towards centralisaion, disregarding the
would remaina myth (Sixth Five-Year Plan representedthe voice of a substantialsection ongoing debates on the need for
1980-85, Chaptei'27). Hencef'orthall anti- of the women's movementand of women's decentralisationand democratisationof the
povertyprogrammesweredirectedto include studies' scholars,who wereinductedinto its planningprocess. The proposedreservation
women as targets. In cases of assets various task forces. Activists helped in of 30 per cent seats for women in elective
distributed by government (productive/ organising public hearings with women bodies, to be filled by co-option or
homestead land, technology, etc)- workersin theinformalsector- in bothurban nominationin the initial stage, revealed the
governmnentpromised to "endeavour to andruralareas[Governmentof India 1988]. government's interest in subverting the
provide joint titles to husband and wife", Therewereshadesof divergenceordifference representativeprocess. Anotherreal danger
plus give priority to 'female hcaded in emphasis in the approachto the problem came from the 'preferentialemphasis' to be
houselholds'(Sixth Five-YearPlan 1980-85, of women in the informal sector. A large given to the unorganisedsector.
Chapter27). section of women activists went along with Rejecting all these anti-democratic
Womeni have comiiprised a crucial government in its active promotion and proposals,women'sorganisationsdemanded
componenitol those strugglingfor land and special emphasis on the role of women in (a) theconstitutionof statutory,autonomous
forest rights, aigainstthe havoc wrouIghtby the self-employed and home-basedsectors, women's commissions at the centre and in
conistructionof' large dams and ecological while others differed with this approach. the stateswith a broad-based,representative
disasters,strugglesl'orfishingrightsin coastal The latterfelt thatthis reinforcedthe process composition; (b) inclusion of child-care as
waters, f'or recognition as workers in of marginalisation and was a retreat on a priority within minimum needs from the
governmentalnetworksot health and child government'searliercommitment to bringing next plan onwards; (c) ratification of the
care services, as urbaniunorganisedlabour, women into the 'productive' sphere. The International Convention on Elimination
migrant labour and rural workers [Sarkar dilemmawas a genuineone. No one disputed of Discrimination Against Women; and
1995 forthcomingl. In all these they have that the limited opportunitiesfor economic (d) due recognition of national
fought for basic rights as workers,for equal earnings should be expanded and work organisations of women at all levels of the
wages and better working conditions. conditions in this sector be improved. The planninganddecision-making processes.27
Microstudies have highlighted the role pointat issue was whethertakingcognisance The movement has adopted a multi-
womenplay in all these sectors. But a f'uller of the fa;ctthat at stake was the survival of pronged strategy on this issue. While the
historyof these numerousand multifarious enlire householdsone should settle for little specific skills of women's studies' scholars
struggles is still awaited. 'hits andlcrumbs'. As one economist put it, have been directedat evolving a critiqueof
The women's movemenithas consistently "thewomen's movementshouldhavefought themacro-levelpoliciesof government,grass
demandedimplementationof genuine land harder for gender equality in the labour rootslevel initiativesto develop alternatives
reform. Nevertheless defenders of the market/force".25 have been stepped up. One of the biggest
'family' accused women's organisationsot' The NationalPerspectivePlanlforWomen mobilisations of women in Delhi from all
arresting'distributivejustice'by deemanding (NPP) up to the year 2000 was, on the other over the country, in September 1989, was
women's right to a share of productive hand, preparedby a team of consultantstor of over 20,000 women demandingthe right
resources. A study of land ceiling laws the Department of Women and Child to work.21
enactedbydifferentstatesbroughtoutclearly Development with no interaction with Women's organisations have mush-
that many of the ceiling laws, were activists. The draft,placed for endorsement roomed - sometimes combining issues at
discriminatoryand thus unconstitutional. before a NationalCommitteeheadedby the the workplace and family environment,
Stateprocedure/rulesforredistributionwere prime ministerfaced opposition from some sometimes as sub-committees within
even more so. In one case, where a group memberswho foundtheabsenceof women's existing tradeunions or joint fronts. Many
of peasantwomenchallengedtheirexclusion organisations'representativesinexplicable. groups at the grass roots level have directly
fromgetting title to redistributedland in the The organisations in turn demanded a entered or sponsored income-generation
RajasthanCanalArea in the RajasthanHigh national debate before the document was activity, with SEWA heading the list as the
Court."t adopted.26 The same demandwas echoed by most well known combination of the two.
The closing year of the Women's Decade a nationalseminarofwomenNGOsconvened Even though women's participation in
marked aIhigh tide. A new government, by the CentralSocial Welfare Board.Since trade union activity anid involvement at
headed by Rajiv Gandhi, announced in the government seemed in no mood to do the level of decision-making still remains
January 1985 that women would receive this, the organisationstook uponthemselves abysmally low, over the last two decades
greaterprioritythanbef'ore.24
The same year to proceedin the matterby holding a debate at least the problem has been highlighted

Economic and Political Weekly July 22, 1995 1875

anld the class and gender bias marked out citizens. as mothers,wives, daulghters. as tailures. At a genierallevel it is estimated
t'or criticismli. women. the economic policies hit us the that two-thirds of the neo-literate learners
The critique of' macrio-policiesbasically hardest".2' as well as two-tlirds ol' the volunteers are
a(lopts tlhrecethrUsts: (a) that they would The overall impact of SAP has to he womenl [Governinent of India 199441.Thle
enhance rather than rediuce inequalities uinderstoodin the contextof the overbearing impactot the literacy movementcame to he
ainong the people in genierail;(b) that this realitythatalready94 percent of the women highlightedlin the context of the anlti-arrack
wouldlmake the conditioniof the majority workers are partof the informalsector and movement in Andhra Pradesh. However,
of women alreadystrugglinigtor survival in that they constitute half the labour torce in another remarkablcachievement in recent
the intorinal sector still more vulnerable; the unorganisedsector.)"What is the future years has been the process set in motion by
andl(c) they would contributeto the social lying aheadforwomenin aneconomy which the implementation of the 73rd and 74th
tiurhulencean(dviolenicc,of wfiich women itself shall be struggling to find a space constitutionalbodies which providc for 33
andchildreinarethe majorvictims. Critiques within the model of 'sustainable per cent representationtor women in local
have also concdemiined violence stemming development' underthe aegis of a carefully bodies in rural and urban areas.
fromthepromotionof consumeristlitestyles orchestrated Structural Adjustment Whereas observers rightly see in this a
through the mass media as such lifestyles Programme? qualitatively new dimension that has been
trap women into the stereotype of being added to the women's movement through
objectsandsubjectsof consumerism[Bhasin CONCLUSION thisdevelopment,the depthandcomplexities
anidAgarwal 1984]. It is importantto note of these linkages are yet to he understood.
that the tew importantconcessions wrested The contemporarywomen's movementin In ruralIndia, as also in the cities, it is the
from the government in the poverty India spans a large canvas. There are small new foundarticulationandconfidencewhich
alleviation througheconomic development groups as well as large national level is coming into conflict with the consolidated
programmesprovidedsome space for urban organisations.' Whilesomearerecenthaving combineof conservativesocial forceswhich
poorandruralwomento use theopportunities been formedonly over the last two decades, drawstrengthfromthe regressivestepstaken
made available to organise and articulate othersgo back to over 50 or even 100 years. by government as well as political
theirdemands.However,the macro-policies Some organisationsfocus on single issues representativesof reactionaryforces. It is
remaining untouched and unchanged, while the mass organisationscover a vast the latterwhich aretodaypreparingto mount
continuedthe processes of marginalisation. range. The organisationalstructureas well an onslaught through the political process
The issue facing the movement today is as activities undertakendiffer. to check women's halting steps to advance
about the relevance of these debates and The movement has been fraught with and strengthen democracy in India.
eftorts.Theearliercritiqueof macro-policies tensions, rifts and differences, reflecting Movementpolitics, as it has developed in
was froma standpoinitof introducinga pro- differingnotionsof whatarewomen's issues India,tends to show-up elements which arc
women approach within the given or how the movement should proceed to unclassifiable, Ideological ditferenices
parameters, using the constitutional focus on these. Incomparisonwith the early exist - but within a conitiniuum- and tend to
guarantees as the basic reference point. years of the decade, today it is much easier get blurredwhen strategic choices have to
Today.Indianwomen feel thatthe structural to come together. With an experience of be made between priorities.But the debates
adjustmentprogrammesand the packageof working together for over a decade and a continue and the questions persist. Is the
economic 'reforms'threatennot only earlier half women's groups in the country are movement's decentralised structure and
gains, but also the stated national goals by fairly well awareof the issues they agree on multiple arenas of interaction a point of
successive governments. While the and where they differ. However, neitherthe strength or weakness or both? Is the
movement was critiquingthe development agreement nor should the differences be movement's 'excessive preoccupation'with
model, SAP has now removed the few seen as static or in a frozen time frame. the state's development policies and
regulatory/compensatory aspects of India's Whereasideological differencesremainand legislation 'welfarist' in its objective rather
mixed economy, leaving 'global market perspectives differ, the overall thrustis in than 'feminist' or 'radical"? Does the
forces' the sole players in the field. The favour of unity in action.)2 extension of the issue of violenlce against
processes, especially to those with The same attitudeis reflectedin the issues women from the domestic to the social and
inconvenient historical memories, bear being takenup. In the 1970s the movement politicalspheresindicatea backslidingor an
significant resemblance to what happened took off as partof anoverallbuildup against advance?Or does it successfully combatthe
to the Indianeconomy, andto women's role the authoritarian regime symbolised, dichotomy posed between 'economic
in the economy in particular.during the ironically, by a woman prime minister. It welfarism' and 'body politics'? Should the
colonial period [Krishnaraj1988; Patnaik then got fragmented and even perhaps women's movement get involved with
1993;Krishnainurty1989;Ghoshet al 1994; insulated.For a while even overtly political issues related to environment, population,
Mitra 1979]. statementswere resisted. Today it is much child rights, globalisation/marketisation,
This realisationhas imiadeunity amongst easier to come togethereven on a platform internationaldebt burden,all of which arise
difteriing organisations easier to achieve to denouncetheeconomic andotherpolicies from its widening base at the grass roots
today. In a joint statement women' s of the government.The 1990s representa level or should it retainits autonomywlile
organisations asserted: "We say no to Dunkel, troughin the political graph,where the need restricting its focus?
no to GArr, we oppose the unrestricted to join hands and build alliances with other Clearly, as it has developed, the focus
entry ot TNC's into the Indian economy". forces is even greater. could not be confined to the issue of
They argued that The women's movementhas undoubtedly interpersonal relationships. The limits to
grown. Itsoutreachis farbeyondthe figures creating an essentialist, biological entity as
discussions on the impact of the new
of enrolled membership of organisations. well as identity of 'woman' have become
economic policies usually focus on the
These havenow to takenoteof the increasing only too obvious. While the ideological
iml)acton the organised sector, since womcn
make up only a small percentage here it is articulationof confidence by women at the outreachof 'feminine' identity politics has
assuined that the impact is minimal. We grass roots level. Nothing illustrates this widened,this spreadhasalso demolishedthe
need to unitedly and forcefully correct the better than the response to the literacy fossilised image sought to be created.From
picture. In our multidimensional roles, as campaigns in several states where earlier differentstartingpoints, organisationshave
workers, as peasants. as producers. as attemptsto reachwomen had been abysmal moved towards a more holistic vision. As

1876 Economic and Political Weekly July 22, 1995

the proto-fascist undertones of political in Delhi broughttogether activists from the Forum, Madras, the Annapurna Mahila
events/processesbecome cleareralong with northernand centralregion and the southern Mandal, Bombay, etc.
the state's surrederto them, the need to join region activists met in Hyderabad in 19 The general election of 1977 removed the
handsis felt ever moredeeply, lest we come November. Reports of these consultations government led by Indira Gandhi, for the
out with a cri de coeur -"we have the shall be published within the year. excesses of herruleduringthe emergencyand
movement but they (the other?) have the 3 'OpenLettertotheChiefJusficeof India,1979', a non-Congress government came to power
women". While the movement is aware of SupremeCourtJoumral,1979, 4, pp 19-22. at the centre for the first time.
4 The comment on the committee achieving 20 CriticalIssues on the Statusof Women,op cit.
these challenges the strength of its grass
solidaritydespiteparty-baseddifferenceswas 21 The demandfor Jointpattas was earliermade
roots supportbase provides a ray of hope
made by Susheela Gopalan,MP, and general by peasantwomen in two officially sponsored
thatcounter-actionsand counter-ideologies meetings in West Bengal: State Conjerence
secretay of AIDWA.
are not impossible. 5 'Perspectivesfrom the Women's Movement: on Womenand Developtment,Calcutta, 1979
Healthand Population'in Some Issues in the andOrientationC6ampforSeasonallyMigrant
Notes Struggle for Women's Equality, 1994 WomenLabourers,Jhilimili, Bankura,1980.
(henceforth,Some Issues); a joint document It is ironical that the demand which brought
[This paper, commissioned for a volume of published by the Delhi Network of Six on the movement the charge of 'trying to
studies on the women's movement in different National Women's Organisations,pp 10- 17. breakup the family', was ardentlyadvocated
countries, was written on the basis of a process 6 Joitit Memorandum to Swanminathant by three representativesof the Government
of wide-ranging inter-action in four regional of India in 1992 at a conference on Peasant
Coinmittee by 12 Women's Organisations,
consultations to incorporate activists' own
November 12, 1993 (unpublished). Women and Environmeent of' India,
perceptions of current challenges. It was not
included in the volume since the authorsrefused
7 Open Letterto SwaminathanCommittee. Cf Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. See Report
IndianiExpreess,July9, 1994,andThePioneer, of' the Lahore Conference 1992, Aurat
to comply with large-scale revisions in the text;
deleting certain sections by the editor/ July 11, 1994. Foundationand Unifem; also MazumdarV,
publishers/the agency funding the study. The 8 Cf Resolution adopted in meeting to plan EmbracitngtheEarth:AnAgendaforPartner-
deletions included the introduction and JointActionagainstCriminalisationof Politics ship witihPeasant Woment;1994, UN FAO.
conclusion, the section on population policy as and Sexual Abuse of Women, Delhi, October 22 Vina Mazumdar to Lotika Sarkar, M-6/80,
well as large parts of the discussion on 22, 1994 (unpublished). September 12, 1980, CWDS files, and
communalisin/fundainentalism,on the grounds 9 A common custom among peasant Vina Mazumdar to Ashok Mitra, M-6/80,
of their not being "specific to the women's communities, ainmedat preventing partition October 1, 1980, CWDS files.
movement in India". Instead new paragraphs/ of property by making a widow marry her 23 ChairteronEmployment,March8, 1983.Also,
pages were incorporated which contradicted brother-in-law. Appeal to NAM Summit, New Delhi, 1983,
the views of the authors. The political context 10 Information received in conversation with reportedin all nationaldailies on March 11,
in which women's struggle was being waged AIDWA activists in Delhi: also Razia from the day before the summitended. For NAM's
in India was edited out altogether. Reports of Patel, The Timevs of India, Research decisions on women - see ThieNon-Aligned
the consultations which provided the evidence Fellowship, Study of Muslims in India Movement and the Iiternational Women's
for our analysis shall be published shortly. (unpublished). Decade: A Summary oJ Deciisions, CWDS
There is a wide difference in the age of the I I .anasatta, editorial, September 18, 1987, 1983. Also Tomsic, Vida - 4th J P Naik
two authorsof this paper.However, both happen Memorial Lecture, CWDS. 1986.
also see Nandy, Ashis 'Human Factor' in
to be students of history. What initially brought
The Illustrated Weekly, January 17, 1988, 24 President's Address to the newly elected (in
us together was the contemporary women's
moveinent's effort in Indiato bring out ajournal pp 20-23. December 1984) parliamiientat its opening
in English. Vina Mazumdar was the first 12 For debateon 'voluntary'sati see Vaid, S and session, January 1985.
publisher of Manushi and, Indu, a member of Sangari,K, 'Institutions,Beliefs, Ideologies: 25 Nirmala Banerjee, See Report of Calcutta
its editorial collective. Our link with the Widow Immolation in Contemporary Con.sultation,CWDS.jorthcominng,1995.
movementcould be put very logistically - there Rajasthan',Economic and Political Weekly, 26 Joint Press Statementby National Womsen's
is perhapsnot a single joint statement/docuinent Vol XXVI, No 17, April 27, WS 2-18. Also Organisations, July 6, 1988, Also Nationcal
of the women's movemiientwhich may have see 'From the Burning Embers'. A film on Perspective Plan: A Perspective from the
emanated from Delhi to which both or either sati by Mediastorm.Also see. Mani, Lata in Wonmen'sMoventent, Report of a Nationial
of us, individually or as part of sponsoring Sangari and Vaid, 1989, op cit. Debate by Women's Organistitions.s1988,
women's organisations - the Centre for 13 All the consultations emphasised this issue. New Delhi, CWDS (mimeo).
Women's Development Studies anld the All 14 These points einerged from a discussion on 27 Naitionail Debate, 1988, op cit.
India Democratic Women's Association, have Fundamentalism and Violence during the 28 The memoranduinsubmittedto the president
not been signatories. Ourdoubts, dilemmas and Consultation in Bombay, January 1994. asserted that "the struggle for economic
convictions in some way reflect the continuum organisedjointly by the Centrefor Women's independenceis of primeimportanceif women
of consciousiness passed over from one Developmnent Studies (CWDS) and the are to achieve equality and lead a life of
generation of Indian women to another.] MaharashtraAbhyas Vidyapeeth to review dignity". At this rally as on other occasions
I A recent study, making note of Towards the last two decades of the Movement activists pointed to the paradox of govern-
Equalityas a reference point, points out that (henceforth Bombay Consultation). Cf ment continuing to view women as
as a "founding text" it is perhaps a good Wooten's Movement.Towardsa Critical Self supplementaryearnerseven thoughall records
measureof "the contrastbetween the Indian Appralisal Report o*n Consultation, 1994 show thatover 30 per cent of ruralhousholds
movementandthe movementin the US, which (forthcoming), CWDS. are headed by women. Cf Womei 's Equaility,
often cited Betty Friedan's The Femininie 15 Plenary session, V National Conference on July-December 1989.
Mystique as the book that set the women's Women'sStudies(NCWS),Jadavpur,January 29 'Why We Need to Struggle against the New
movement in that countrygoing". See Tharu 1991. The theme of the conference was Economic Policies'? in SomneIssues, op cit.
and Lalitha, K (eds), 1994, Wonien Writinug 'Religion, Culture and Politics'. p 3.
itnIndia, Vol 11,OUP, p 101. 16 Bombay Consultation, op/ cit. 30 'Organising Women in the Unorganised
2 The first such consultation was held in 17 It was the first priority area in the Indian Sector, Some Issues': Workshop organised
Boinbay where activists from Maharashtra Cotuncil of Social Science Research's by NationalLabourlnstitute(NLI),New Delhi,
and Gujarat participated. At a simnilar sponsored programmeof women's studies. 1994.
exercise in Calcutta, groups and See CriticcalIssues on the Status of Women, 31 Some of these may even have a membership
organisations from West Bengal, Bihar and 1977, ICSSR. going up to a few million: AIDWA -'3.
Orissacame together. The thirdconsultation 18 SEWA Ahmedabad,the Working Women's million. NFIW, I million, YWCA 15S,000.

Economic and Political Weekly July 22, 1995 1877

32 This point came across from the round of Hasan,Zoya( 1989): 'Minority IdentityMuslim Women:Shiftsin OccupationalParticipation,
consultationsheldby theCWDS with activists Women Bill Campaign and the Political Abhinav, Delhi.
across the country. A greater readiness and process', Econiomic and Political Weekly, Palriwala,R( 1985):'WomenAreNotforBurning:
felt need to act togetheris also reportedfrom Vol XXIV, No 1, January 7, pp 44-50. The Anti-Dowry Movement in Delhi', paper
state level Consultations of Women NGOs ICSSR (1978): ICSSR Prograntmme of Women's presentedat Symposium99, Anthropological
preparing for the World Conference on Studies: A Policy Statement, ICSSR. Perspectives on Collective Actions, An
Women, Beijing, 1995. Karat, B and I Agnihotri (1993): Violence Assessment of the Decade, Mijas, Spain.
atgainist Women, Vol 6, Proceedings of Palriwala, R and I Agnihotri (1993): Tradition
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1878 Economic and Political Weekly July 22, 1995