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‘Didi, are you Hindu?’ Politics of Secularism in Women's Activism in India: Case-study of a grassroots women's organization in rural Uttar Pradesh*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2012

RADHIKA GOVINDA
RADHIKA GOVINDA*
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In this paper I take the women's movement as the site for unpacking some of the strains and tensions involved in practical interpretations of secularism in present-day India. Several sources within and outside the movement point out that there has been a tendency to take the existence of secularism for granted, and that the supposedly secular idioms and symbols used for mobilizing women have been drawn from Hindu religio-cultural sources. Women from Dalit and religious minority communities have felt alienated by this. Hindu nationalists have cleverly appropriated these idioms and symbols to mobilize women as foot soldiers to further religious nationalism. Through a case-study of a grassroots women's NGO working in Uttar Pradesh, I seek to explore how women's organizations may be reshaping their agendas and activism to address this issue. Specifically, I will examine how and why the 2002 Gujarat riots affected the NGO, the ways in which it has started working on the issue of communal harmony and engaging with Muslims since the riots, and the challenges with which it has been confronted as a result of its efforts. In doing so, I will show how the complexities of NGO-based women's activism have become intertwined with the politics of secularism.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 47 , Issue 2 , March 2013 , pp. 612 - 651
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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Footnotes

*

Many thanks to Professor Geoffrey Hawthorn, Professor Patricia Jeffery, and Dr Francesca Orsini who read and commented on previous versions of this paper, and to Vimukt Mahila Samuh for their generous support of my fieldwork. As the author of the paper, I alone take responsibility for the analysis presented here.

References

1 Madan, T. N. (1993), ‘Whither Indian secularism?’, Modern Asian Studies, 27 (3), p. 674CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 For the two meanings of secularism outlined above, see Bharucha, Rustom (1998), In the Name of the Secular: Contemporary Cultural Activism in India, New Delhi: Oxford University PressGoogle Scholar.

3 The literal translation of the word ‘Dalit’ from Hindi/Marathi to English would be ‘the oppressed’. It is used to denote ex-Untouchables or low-castes, also known as Scheduled Castes, in official parlance. ‘Dalit’ is a term that this grouping of people are said to have chosen for themselves.

4 Participant observation of cultural programme organized by Vimukt Mahila Samuh to celebrate the onset of the monsoons, 8 August 2006, Chitrakoot district, Uttar Pradesh.

5 This has led several scholars and activists to question whether it is possible to assume the existence of an overarching women's movement in India. See, for instance, Mazumdar, Vina and Agnihotri, Indu (1995), ‘Changing terms of political discourse, women's movement in India 1970s–1990s’, Economic and Political Weekly, 30 (29), pp. 186–979Google Scholar, or Sen, Ilina (ed.) (1990), A Space Within the Struggle: Women's Participation in People's Movements, New Delhi: Kali for WomenGoogle Scholar. Some claim that there is no single women's movement but rather several women's movements in India. See, for instance, Desai, Manisha (2002), ‘Multiple mediations: the state and the women's movements in India’, in Meyer, D. S., Robnett, Belinda and Whittier, Nancy (eds), Social Movements: Identity, Culture and the State, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 66–84Google Scholar. While I do recognize that the women's movement in India is neither homogeneous nor monolithic in nature, I contend that the different strands of the movement are bound together by overlapping objectives and connections, and that, therefore, for the purpose of analysis, these strands may be examined under one rubric.

6 Agnes, F. (1995), ‘Redefining the agenda of the women's movement within a secular framework’, in Sarkar, T. and Butalia, U. (eds), Women and Right-Wing Movements: Indian Experiences, London: Zed Books, pp. 136–157Google Scholar; T. Sarkar (1995), ‘Woman, community, and nation’, in Sarkar and Butalia (eds), Women and Right-Wing Movements, pp. 89–106; Tharu, S. and Niranjana, T. (1999), ‘Problems for a contemporary theory of Gender’, in Menon, N. (ed.), Gender and Politics in India, Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 472–525Google Scholar.

7 Field notes, July–August 2005, Chitrakoot.

8 ‘Chamar’ is derived from the word ‘chamarkar’, and literally means ‘a leather worker’. The Chamars are the largest caste group among the Dalits and, under different names and sub-castes, are found throughout most of northern and central India. Historically associated with ‘impure’ activities such as leatherwork and the removal of dead animals, they often work as landless agricultural and manual labourers. Though among the lowest Untouchable castes, the Chamars are generally recognized as being one of the most advanced in terms of their educational achievements and the number of government jobs they manage to secure, by virtue of the reserved quota designed for them through a policy of positive discrimination. They are also among the most politically conscious of the Dalit castes. See Ciotti, Manuela (2006), ‘In the past we were a bit “Chamar”: education as a self-and community engineering process in northern India’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (n.s.) 12, pp. 899–916CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 Rajan, R. S. and Needham, A. D. (2007), ‘Introduction’, in Needham, A. D. and Rajan, R. S. (eds), The Crisis of Secularism in India, Durham: Duke University Press, p. 20Google Scholar.

10 1998 Bharatiya Janata Party election manifesto, cited in Rajan and Needham, ‘Introduction’, in Needham and Rajan (eds), The Crisis, p. 16.

11 For a detailed discussion on the Hindu nationalists’ anti-Muslim discourse, refer to Jeffery, Patricia and Jeffery, Roger (2006), Confronting Saffron Demography: Religion, Fertility, and Women's Status in India, Gurgaon: Three Essays CollectiveGoogle Scholar.

12 For an elaboration on banal communalism, see Datta, P. K. (1999), Carving Blocks: Communal Ideology in Early Twentieth Century Bengal, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, and Jeffery and JefferyGoogle Scholar, Confronting Saffron Demography. The concept of banal communalism draws on that of banal nationalism. See Billig, Michael (1995), Banal Nationalism, London: Sage PublicationsGoogle Scholar.

13 See Menon, Dilip (2006), ‘An inner violence: why communalism in India is about caste’, in Srinivasan, T. N. (ed.), Threats to Secularism, Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 60–82.Google Scholar

14 For an elaboration of this argument, see Nivedita Menon (2007), ‘Living with secularism’, in Needham and Rajan (eds), The Crisis, pp. 118–40.

15 For an insightful discussion on this issue, refer to Srinivasan, Bina (2007), Negotiating Complexities: A Collection of Feminist Essays, New Delhi: Promilla and CoGoogle Scholar. Publishers in association with Bibliophile South Asia.

16 Menon, ‘Living with secularism’, p. 136.

17 For more on the women's movement actors’ position on religion and use of religious symbols and idioms, see Dietrich, Gabriele (1994), ‘Women and religious identities in India after Ayodhya’, in Bhasin, Kamla, Menon, Ritu and Khan, N. S. (eds), Against All Odds: Essays on Women, Religion and Development from India and Pakistan, New Delhi: Kali for Women, pp. 35–59Google Scholar, and Kumar, Radha (1993), A History of Doing: An Illustrated Account of Movements for Women's Rights and Feminism in India, 1800–1990, New Delhi: Kali for WomenGoogle Scholar.

18 Geetanjali Gangoli explains very succinctly the conflating of ‘Hindu’ and ‘Indian’ and the complications that arise as a result. See Gangoli, Geetanjali (2007), Indian Feminisms: Law, Patriarchies and Violence in India, Hampshire, England: AshgateGoogle Scholar.

19 Agnes, ‘Redefining the agenda of the women's movement within a secular framework’, p. 139.

20 Four religious communities—the majority Hindu, and the minority Muslim, Christian, and Parsi communities—have their own personal laws. Other religious groups such as Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes are subsumed under Hindu law. See Rajan, Rajeswari Sunder (2000), ‘Women between community and state: some implications of the uniform civil code debates in India’, Social Text, 65 (18), pp. 55–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

21 These concerns did later result in the emergence of a number of different positions among the women's groups—ranging from a compulsory or egalitarian civil code for all citizens to reforms within communities with and/or without state intervention. Immediately after the Shah Bano controversy, however, these groups felt that by appropriating the women's movement's demand for a uniform civil code, the Hindu nationalists had taken over the very language and issues of the movement and had used them to promote a patriarchal, anti-minority agenda. For insightful observations on the issue of the uniform civil code and the women's movement, see Chhachhi, Amrita (1994), ‘Identity politics, secularism and women: a South Asian perspective’, in Hasan, Zoya (ed.), Forging Identities: Gender, Communities and the State, New Delhi: Kali for Women, pp. 74–95Google Scholar; Menon, Nivedita (1998), ‘State/gender/community: citizenship in contemporary India’, Economic and Political Weekly, 33 (5), p. PE310Google Scholar; and Rajan, ‘Women between community and state’, pp. 55–82.

22 These observations draw on Batliwala, Srilatha and Dhanraj, Deepa (2007), ‘Gender myths that instrumentalize women: a view from the Indian frontline’, in Cornwall, Andrea, Harrison, Elizabeth and Whitehead, Ann (eds), Feminisms in Development: Contradictions, Contestations and Challenges, London: Zed Books, pp. 21–34Google Scholar.

23 See Tharu and Niranjana, ‘Problems for a contemporary theory of gender’, pp. 472–525.

24 Comparisons and contrasts of the Hindu nationalists’ and the women's movement's mobilization of women are available in several of the essays in Sarkar and Butalia (eds), Women and Right-Wing Movements.

25 The discussion that follows on how the 2002 Gujarat Hindu–Muslim riots were markedly different from previous such riots draws mainly on Menon, Nivedita (2004), Recovering Subversion: Feminist Politics Beyond the Law, Delhi: Permanent BlackGoogle Scholar; Basu, Amrita and Roy, Srimati (2004), ‘Prose after Gujarat: violence, secularism and democracy in India’, in Hasan, Mushirul (ed.), Will Secular India Survive?, Gurgaon: ImprintOne, pp. 320–55Google Scholar.

26 Basu and Roy, ‘Prose after Gujarat’, p. 325.

27 This information is drawn from an interview with a paralegal at Samuh, 22 November 2005, Chitrakoot, and a focus group discussion with a mixed group of Samuh staff members, 24 November 2005, Chitrakoot.

28 Here I draw on three focus group discussions that I conducted with a mixed group of Samuh staff members, 25 August 2005, Chitrakoot.

29 Interview with a paralegal at Samuh, 22 November 2005, Chitrakoot.

30 Chitrakoot is known for having been the place where characters from Hindu mythology, namely Lord Rama and Sita, sought refuge after they were exiled from Ayodhya many centuries ago.

31 This information is drawn from two interviews, the first with a male leader of a local voluntary organization supported by the Hindu nationalists, 13 August 2005, Chitrakoot; and the second with a male leader of a local land rights organization, 23 August 2006, Chitrakoot.

32 Interview with Samuh's founder-leader, 18–21 September 2006, Lucknow.

33 Interview with Samuh's founder-leader, 18–21 September 2006, Lucknow.

34 These observations are drawn from my interview with Samuh's Muslim leader, 11 June 2005, London.

35 Interview with Samuh's founder-leader, 18–21 September 2006, Lucknow.

36 This argument is drawn from the Centre for Human Rights and Development (2008), ‘Advocating Rights of Muslims: Problems and Challenges’, A Preliminary Report for the CHRD, <http://www.socialjusticeindia.org/minority_rights.htm>, [accessed 12 August 2012].

37 My observations on Samuh's sources of—and situation with respect to—funding are based on a focus group discussion that I conducted with a mixed group of Samuh staff members, and from Samuh, Vimukt Mahila (2005), Annual Report 2004–2005, Chitrakoot: Vimukt Mahila SamuhGoogle Scholar.

38 These observations are based on three interviews, the first with a female leader of a women's NGO, 24 August 2006, Chitrakoot; the second with a male leader of a local voluntary organization mainly running self-help groups, 13 August 2005, Chitrakoot; and the third with a male leader of another local voluntary organization, 24 August 2006, Chitrakoot.

39 I have reconstructed the story based on Samuh, Vimukt Mahila (2002), Annual Newsletter, Chitrakoot: Vimukt Mahila SamuhGoogle Scholar, and an interview with a paralegal at Samuh, 22 November 2005, Chitrakoot.

40 Interview with a paralegal at Samuh, 22 November 2005, Chitrakoot.

41 The lists of Samuh employees given at the end of the annual newsletters and reports illustrate this. See, for instance, Samuh, Vimukt Mahila (2002), Annual Newsletter, Chitrakoot: Vimukt Mahila SamuhGoogle Scholar.

42 Samuh staff members openly discussed this in a focus group discussion, 24 November 2005, Chitrakoot.

43 Interview with Samuh's founder-leader, 18–21 September 2006, Lucknow; and focus group discussions with Samuh staff members, 24 and 25 November 2005, Chitrakoot.

44 By ‘general’ category, the NGO meant all categories of Hindu caste groups.

45 The condition for team formation was clearly stated in Samuh, Vimukt Mahila (2005), Tremor Forum tournament, flyer, Chitrakoot: Vimukt Mahila SamuhGoogle Scholar.

46 Bharucha, In the Name of the Secular, p. 100.

47 I have reconstructed the oath based on my observation of the Tremor Forum cricket tournament supported by Samuh, 23 November 2005, Chitrakoot.

48 For an example of this discourse, see Samuh, Vimukt Mahila (2002), Annual Newsletter, Chitrakoot: Vimukt Mahila SamuhGoogle Scholar.

49 I learned about several of the messages that the NGO intended to convey from my interview with a paralegal at Samuh, 24 August 2006, Chitrakoot.

50 Dainik Jagaran, 24 November 2005.

51 Interview with Samuh's founder-leader, 18–21 September 2006, Lucknow.

52 This was also something that was mentioned during my interview with a paralegal at Samuh, 24 August 2006, Chitrakoot.

53 I draw on my participant observation of cultural programmes organized by Samuh, 8 and 9 August 2006, Chitrakoot.

54 The statements made here are based on (open-ended) group discussions that I had with the adolescent girls and young women from the Conversations Forum on 26 and 27 July 2006, Banda.

55 (Open-ended) group discussion with adolescent boys associated with the Tremor Forum, 21 August 2006, Chitrakoot.

56 Porta, D. D. and Diani, M. (1999). Social Movements: An Introduction, Oxford: Blackwell, p. 85Google Scholar.

57 The observations I make here are based on field notes, 8–14 August 2005.

58 Interview with a paralegal at Samuh, 24 August 2006, Chitrakoot.

59 Interview with Samuh's founder-leader, 18–21 September 2006, Lucknow.

60 Hasan, Z. (2004). ‘Social inequalities, secularism and minorities in India's democracy’, in Hasan, Mushirul (ed.), Will Secular India Survive?, Gurgaon: ImprintOne, p. 242Google Scholar.

61 Interview with Samuh's founder-leader, 18–21 September 2006, Lucknow.

62 Menon, D. (2006). ‘An inner violence: why communalism in India is about caste’, in Srinivasan, T. N. (ed.), Threats to Secularism, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, p. 62Google Scholar.

63 Interview with a paralegal at Samuh, 26–28 July 2006, Banda.

64 For a detailed account of the condition of Muslims, see the official website for the Ministry of Minority Affairs (Government of India): Government of India (2006), ‘Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community in India’, <http://minorityaffairs.gov.in/sachar>, [accessed 29 September 2008].

65 For a historical analysis of discrimination against Muslims in India, refer to Pandey, Gyanendra (2005), Routine Violence: Nations, Fragments, Histories, Palo Alto: Stanford University PressGoogle Scholar.

66 See, for instance, Samuh, Vimukt Mahila (2003), Annual Report 2002–2003, Chitrakoot: Vimukt Mahila SamuhGoogle Scholar.

67 Interview with a paralegal at Samuh, 26–28 July 2006, Banda.

68 Interview with a paralegal at Samuh, 24 August 2006, Chitrakoot.

69 For a theoretical account of human rights, equity, and equality, see Kabeer, Naila (2005), ‘“Growing” citizenship from the grassroots: Nijera Kori and social mobilisation in Bangladesh’, in Kabeer, Naila (ed.), Inclusive Citizenship: Meanings and Expressions, New Delhi: Zubaan, pp. 181–98Google Scholar.

70 Washington Post, 4 November 2007.

71 These observations are drawn from my focus group discussions with women from a self-help group, 19 and 20 August 2006, a village in Chitrakoot.

72 Focus group discussion with women from a self-help group, 26 November 2005, a village in Chitrakoot.

73 Anandhi, S. (1995), Contending Identities: Dalits and Secular Politics in Madras Slums, New Delhi: Indian Social Institute, p. 41Google Scholar.

74 For an elaboration of the argument about how anti-Muslim stereotypes expressed by Dalit and caste-Hindus are not a recent phenomenon, refer to Datta, Carving Blocks; Jeffery and Jeffery (eds), Confronting Saffron Demography; and Khan, Yasmin (2007), The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan, New Haven and London: Yale University PressGoogle Scholar.

75 Focus group discussion with Samuh staff members, 26 August 2006, Chitrakoot.

76 These observations are made on the basis of focus group discussions conducted with Samuh staff members, 25 August 2006, Chitrakoot.

77 Interview with Samuh's founder-leader, 18–21 September 2006, Lucknow.

78 Interview with Samuh's founder-leader, 18–21 September 2006, Lucknow.

79 For an elaboration of the philosophical underpinnings of the project to bring about Muslim-Dalit solidarity, refer to Gail Omvedt (2005), ‘Muslim-Dalit Relation’, Countercurrents, <http://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-omvedt220505.htm>, [accessed 17 September 2008].

80 See, for example, Frankel, Francine (2005), India's Political Economy, 1947–2004: The Gradual Revolution, New Delhi: Oxford University PressGoogle Scholar.

81 This explanation for the meaning of the word ‘Dalit’ is drawn from Narayan, Badri (2006), Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India: Culture, Identity and Politics, New Delhi: Sage PublicationsGoogle Scholar.

82 Interview with Samuh's founder-leader, 18–21 September 2006, Lucknow.

83 The observations made here are based on my field notes, 13 August 2006.

84 The only aspect of the oath and the ceremony that the Muslim women possibly may have found meaningful was the reference to the practice of untouchability. Exclusion is, after all, practised among and between members of different Muslim sects and also between Muslims and non-Muslims.

85 Interview with Samuh's founder-leader, 18–21 September 2006, Lucknow.

86 Interview with Samuh's founder-leader, 18–21 September 2006, Lucknow.