Indian Feminism: Coming of Age

A slappedbottom and a gang rape. A senior IAS officer and a village woman from Rajasthan.Both have moved the courts, seeking justice for all women. Both have stood up inthe public arena to say that they have been robbed of freedoms supposedlyguaranteed to them by the Constitution of independent India. Rupan Deol Bajaj ofChandigarh and Bhanvari Devi of Bhateri village have focussed attention onIndian feminism.

Yet,notwithstanding the publicity given to the most famous deriere in India at themoment, women’s groups say they have been "heartened" by the mediaresponse to Bhanvari Devi. When the social worker from Rajasthan addressed apress conference, almost every newspaper carried the story the next day. Thedistrict judge may have declared the upper caste men do not rape, but nobodydoubted Bhanvari’s word. The campaign for a law on sexual harassment in theworkplace has gathered momentum because of Bhanvari’s experience and women’sgroups are planning several demonstrations in Jaipur in support of her. RupanBajaj may be a talking point, but Bhanvari Devi is the rallying cry. In NinetiesIndia, a poor village woman has become a feminist symbol.

While GermaineGreer and Gloria Steinem execute doctrinal turnabouts and proclaim the virtuesof the traditional family, and writers like Camille Paglia even suggest thatwomen enjoy rape, the legatees of Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and Aruna Asaf Ai, ofKamaldevi Chattopadhyay and Sarojini Naidu are fashioning their own feminism.However western influenced, our own firebrands today stand as heirs to deeperIndian traditions of political participation, traditions rooted in the freedomstruggle and even in the reform movements of the 19th century. Inlogical progression, therefore, the women’s movement today sees itself as anally of movements "from below".

From anti-dowrycampaigns in the ‘80s, to anti-rape demonstrations in the ‘90s, Indianfeminism has taken a trajectory that has brought it into closer contact with thespontaneous struggles of women throughout the country. As Malabika Karlekar ofthe Centre for Women’s Development Studies (CWDS) says, "Even if we teachwestern feminist theory, we still use examples from our own millieu." If thefreedom struggle radicalised women, then the post Independence years haveconsolidated those early efforts. Teesta Setalvad, co-editor of CommunalismCombat, says the very fact that the two main political parties are vying forthe much talked about 33 per cent representation for women is an indication ofthe success of the movement.

Today thewomen’s movement has not only grown but also matured. Voices of self-criticismare being increasingly raised. Dr Vrinda Nabar, fromer head of the EnglishDepartment at the Bombay University, says: "The commitment of many women tothe movement has created greater awareness. But there is not enough of an effortto address the middle-class consciousness

"The Indian women’s movement has a history of its own," asserts UrvashiButalia of the Kali For Women publishing house. "No doubt some urban activists mayhave been educated in the West, but our agenda comes from a reality rooted here."While the West may have fallen prey to "introversion" and"de-politicisation", Indian feminism is in the summertime of its campaign years.While the rather narrow sphere of sexual politics may occupy trans-Atlantic thought, hereit is the nuts and bolts of the female predicament that are central. How to secureone’s livelihood, to stop menfolk from consuming too much alcohol, to ensure thatwomen get good post-natal care and to guarantee literacy for children. In the turmoil ofmodernising India, campaigners must be made of sterner stuff than theories.

When Action India, a women’s organisation, travelled to Saharanpur to raiseawareness about equal rights, they realised the     limits of theirown awareness. Rajbala, an elderly resident of the area, posed a question to which ActionIndia had no answer. "Equality? Equality with whom? Equality for what? Will mystomach be filled with equality? I don’t want equality with my man. I want equalitywith you, you who have cars and send your children to English-speaking schools."

In a situation of extreme poverty, trying to secure equal rights for women ismeaningless. Where men and women are both demeaned by poverty, why ask for equal statuswith a man? "Our attempt," says Gauri Choudhury of Action India, "is tocreate a non-oppressive, non-patriarchal place for women to at least voice theirgrievances." The effort of women’s groups now is to try and ensure economicwell-being of a community and thereby create conditions that are conducive to equalrights.

With the announcement of the structural adjustment programme, women’sorganisations have united on the pattern of development they feel will jeopardise theposition of women further. "The economic reforms will benefit the First World andimpoverish the Third World," says Premila Dandavate of the Mahila Dakshata Samiti.The term "feminisation of poverty" focusses on the unseen masses of womenemployed in the informal sector of the economy who will be forced into even greaterdeprivation because of the reforms. The opposition to the free market has forced anantagonism with the operation of western big business in India.

"The introduction of the contraceptive, Norplant, in India," says aspokesperson for Sakshi, "is big business for the West. Yet the contraceptive isextremely hazardous for Indian women. Reproductive health is necessarily of much greaterimportance for us than it is for women of the developed North."

The issue of abortion, a vital demand for western feminists— that it should betreated as a choice to be made only by the pregnant woman— in India is fraught withcomplications. The practice of amniocentesis and sex determination ultra-sound tests meansthat abortion is often not a choice but is imposed by social pressures. Thus apro-abortion crusade can often play into the hands of forces inimical to the feministagenda.

Indu Agnihotri at C W D S says that several precepts of western feminism are beingexamined in the light of Indian conditions. "As far as contraceptives are concerned,we want them, but they have to be safe. We re g a rd abortions after sex determination aswrong. Also, unlike in the West, Indian feminism has never really been anti-familyalthough we oppose patriarchy within the family structure."

In the land of Sadhvi Rithambara, Uma Bharati and Jayalalitha, the slogan "mysister, right or wrong" must be re-examined. Agnihotri points out that not only wasit a woman prime minister who promulgated the Emergency, but women have often incitedcrowds to violence during communal riots. "So the notion that women are an inherentlynon-violent force is being questioned. We now aim for issue-based rather than gender-basedsolidarity."

In a paper published in the Economic and Political Weekly, Vina Mazumdar andAgnihotri state that several activists have established a dialogue with reform movementsand religious groups within the religious framework. In the opposition to fundamentalism,there is even a debate among feminists to retrieve religion from fundamentalists andhigh-light the positive aspects of socio-religious reform.

Indian feminism in the 90s is trying to reach a stage where it draws on indigenoustraditions of emancipation for its growth. As such it works within the confines of Indiansociety instead of trying to overthrow the system from the outside. So religion is nolonger denied, but communalism is combated; the family is not sought to be destroyed, onlyreformed from patriarchy; equality with men is no longer seen as the ultimate prescriptionfor freedom; and abortion and contraception are no longer absolute imperatives for thehealth of Indian women. "Irresponsible conscience-raising," says Karlekar,"is, I think, a thing of the past. The point is, after exhorting women to revolt,where will they go? Can we offer jobs? Or shelter? It is important to look at the entirepicture."

"The Indian movement," says Sumita Ghose, a member of the URMUL trust ofRajasthan, "has to operate within communities, not among individuals. In the past,urban-educated women were seen leading demonstrations on the streets, now women all overthe country are concerned with land rights, equal accession to family wealth and securingtheir own livelihood. Struggles that are perhaps more pragmatic than ideological."

Ideology still divides, but not as crucially as in the West where perhaps it would beunthinkable for left-wing and conservative women to work together. In India the SevenSisters— a group of seven women’s organisations with differing politicalaffiliations— have worked together to secure law reform, press for petitions andfunction as a pressure group on the government. Says feminist lawyer Lotika Sarkar:"We have nothing to do with the West. We are very down to earth. And as far aswomen’s issues are concerned, there is a united front."

So, there is a new identity-in- the-making for Indian feminism in the decade when themovement has come into its own as a pressure lobby on the government. It is hybrid, yetrooted; western in theory but indigenous in practice; rationalist in inspiration but atthe same time forced to come to terms with some aspects of Indian custom and tradition. Contradictory? No, uniquely Indian.