Women and the Hindu Right

• Published in: Asian journal of women's studies 2000, Vol.6 (1), p.165
• Main Author: Raman, Vasanthi
• Format: Review
• Language: English
• Subjects: Civil rights; Hinduism; Human relations; Interpersonal communication; Law; Literature; Nonfiction; Personal relationships; Religion; Religious law; Women; Womens rights movements
• ISSN: 1225-9276

[Urvashi Butalia]'s piece, "Muslims and Hindus, Men and Women," deals with communal stereotypes and the partition of India. This is part of a larger project on the partition and women. A book has already appeared on the subject. Her point of departure is that the experience of partition was a very gendered one and the communal question was intertwined with it. She examines how different discourses, the overtly communal one of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the supposedly secular one of the Indian state, constructs the identity of the Hindu woman. [Tanika Sarkar]'s work on women in the RSS is now quite well-known. She has meticulously gone through the literature of the organization and its women's wing, the Rashtriya Sevika Samiti. She attempts to weave together the strands of the contemporary situation, characterized by violence and riots, the new consumerist middle class and religion. Her work has contributed substantially to our understanding of the Hindu right wing, particularly the important role of women in the project of building a Hindu nation. The attempts to penetrate and appropriate the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu, so as to broaden the base of Hindutva politics, are dealt with by Geetha and Jayanthi. There are other contributions, specifically dealing with the riots that broke in 1992-93 in Bombay and Gujarat, including a report by seven national level women's organizations.