Perspectives for the Indian women's movement FOR THE PREVIOUS two to three years, active women's groups in India had been discussing the possibility of holding a national conference to discuss some of the vital issues faced by the women's liberation movement. In particular, there was a need to begin a dialogue between rural and urban women's groups. (1)
This conference, "Perspectives for the Indian Women's Movement" took place in December 1985, and was hosted by the Forum Against the Oppression of Women based in Bombay.
Four hundred women from 18 Indian states enthusiastically participated in the debates and discussions, along with observers from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Malaysia, South Korea and Indian women living abroad. The delegates represented 85 women's groups working among rural, tribal and working class women and from the far-left.
- created a lot of awareness regarding health issues and women's role in the environmental movement. The escalation of communal riots -anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh — made feminist groups extremely worried and they began to ask themselves how the women's movement could become an anti-communal force.
The context in which the conference was held was one of increasing state violence against the mass movements, the disintegration of left-wing and working class forces, a rise of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh fundamentalism and government attempts to coopt the most articulate middle-class women in innumerable bureaus, committees and government bodies. It was therefore important to make a forthright evaluation of the present state of the women's movement and to evolve a perspective for common action.
Workshops were held on the following topics: the participation of women's organizations in mass and other organizations; the relationship between consciousness raising and support to individual women; communication and the media; the politics of personal growth; the structures and functioning of women's groups; and the relationship of the women's
VIBHUTI PATEL
The idea that the women's movement in India is urban-based is no longer valid, as the decade 1975-85 has witnessed increasing participation of rural women in struggles for survival. The process of economic development and modernization in rural India has not only bypassed women but also adversely affected rural in taking up individual cases of violence against women and fighting legal battles. Rural women's groups combining struggles for survival as well as fighting against patriarchal oppression felt an urgent need to establish links with urban groups.
The Bhopal disaster - the genocide by the Union Carbide company movement to the state.
Discussions were also held on the themes of women, religion and culture; women and work; prostitution; domestic violence; and rural women's organizations.
For background information on the development of the Indian women's move. ment see "Right to life for females", , interview with Trupti Shah, International Viewpoint' No. 94, March 10, 1986.
women's employment.
Increasing male migration has also added to the burdens on rural women. Women are now at the head of one-third of Asian households. In this context, it is extremely important to fight around the multi-faceted problems faced by rural women.
Establishing links between women's groups spread all over the country and establishing real communication networks was another area that needed collective discussion.
As a result of pressure from the women's movement most of the political groups have started taking up women's issues. Many of them have launched women's fronts, and the larger political parties have reactivated their women's organizations.
After a nationwide anti-rape campaign, the women's movement in India is now facing many challenges. Initially, their focus of activity remained fighting such atrocities against women as rape, dowry, murders, police violence and so on. Many women's groups also became involved
Women's demonstration in Maraharastra, March 1986 (DR)
BETTE
15
International Viewpoint 27 October 1986
5° Bhopal victim (DR)
To illustrate the scope and breadth of the type of discussions at the conference, the following are the outline notes for the discussion at one of the workshops, on prostitution:
"Prostitution is a very patriarchal institution whose primary assumption is that sex is a male right and that sex and women's bodies are commodities to be packaged and sold. It gives brothel managements absolute licence to induce more and more women into prostitution, without even the minimum of laws to enable a fight against this exploitation.
"The state, in sanctioning legalization, only acts as a pimp, sanctioning the enslavement of women and thus violating fundamental and human rights. Double standards of male sexual morality
"We therefore condemn legalization of prostitution, prostitution racketeers, vested interests who look upon prostitution as a convenient release for their so-called natural and aggressive sexuality and the double standards of male sexual morality. We condemn the active connivance of the government, especially in Goa, in promoting sex-tourism.
"Since in today's society prostitution is likely to continue, measures should be taken on three levels: rescue, voluntary and prevention. Short and long term measures to be considered are: decriminalization; tightening up laws against brothel keepers and pimps; the formation of protective homes; education, health and counselling facilities and pressure on the government.
"All the women's organizations should come together to formulate strategies to deal with the problem and suggest concrete demands on the government."
At the end of four days of rigorous debates, three resolutions were passed on personal laws, women and work and on the Bhopal tragedy [see box]. 16
Conference resolutions Women and Personal Laws (majority resolution): "WE BELIEVE that today no equality and justice is available to women of this country, regardless of the religion they practice. This is an outcome of religious as well as political structures in which women have had no power. These personal laws have meant inequality and subordinate the status of all women in relation to men. We therefore must strive for a civil code where all women get rights equal to men in matters of marriage, divorce, maintenance, custody, inheritance, property, adoption and other such matters. Women's organizations should strive to get adequate representation in framing these laws.
"We also believe that such laws, when enacted, will not encroach on the rights of any religious community. Religion should only govern the relationship between a human being and god, and should definitely not concern the relationship between man and man or man and woman. Therefore we strongly support the demands of any women or group of women who are striving to bring any change for bettering the position of women in this regard. We also condemn the Hindu communal designs at making the democratic issues into a threat to minorities.
"We also lodge our protest against the efforts by the state at restricting the scope of section 125 of the Criminal Procedural Code (CPC). (1) Women and Personal Laws (minority resolution): "WE STRONGLY support the rights of the minorities in India and feel that any move for reform must come from within the community.
*We strongly condemn Justice Chandrachud's communal comments on Muslim Personal Law.
"We support the right of Shah Bano and other women of all communities to maintenance as under section 125 of the CPC.
"We strongly condemn any move to amend section 125 in a bid to deny women of any community the right of maintenance." Women and Work: "WE CONDEMN the two notifications passed by the central government and the Maharashtra state government. The central government notification excludes from the purview of the Maternity Benefits Act all those women who are unmarried. Similarly, the state government notification excludes from the purview of the Act all those women who have not changed their names to their husband's name.
"We demand that both these notifications are withdrawn with immediate and retrospective effect." Women and the Bhopal gas tragedy (2): "THE MADHYA Pradesh government has started collecting from all women victims a proforma asking to give information on whether they are employed, unemployed, semi-skilled, skilled, highly skilled or unskilled. The motives of the government are to give compensation according to this categorization.
"They have categorized the women who are doing domestic work as self-employed and hence not eligible for compensation.
"The conference condemns the government's strategy to cheat the gas victims out of the compensation due to them. Also the conference condemns the government's attitude toward women which will result in the women victims becoming absolutely dependent on family and relatives for their existence, treatment, etc."
1. Section 125 of the Criminal Procedural Code deals with vagrancy law, but became the centre of a major controversy in December, 1985, when it was used as a basis for a ruling in what is known as the "Shah Bano" judgement. Shah Bano, a 73-year-old Muslim woman, won maintenance from her husband after a Supreme Court judgement. She appealed to the civil courts because of the limitations of maintenance provision offered by traditional Koranic law. This was seen to be an attack on Islamic Koranic law, splitting the Muslim community and sparking off massive mobilizations against the judgement.
In March this year, Rajiu Gandhi's government introduced the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights of Divorce) Bill, marking a codification in law of Muslim Personal Law based on the Koran.
2. On December 3, 1984, methyl isocyanate, a deadly gas, escaped from a tank owned by the Union Carbide Corporation at Bhopal and killed 10-20,000 people. Many thousands of others were injured. See International Viewpoint' No. 68, January 28 1985.
It was felt that the women's move. ment must establish links with other mass movements such as tribal liberation movements, struggles of Dalits (untouchables) and working class organizations. At the same time, the women's movement must retain its autonomy so that it is not subsumed by the latter.
The Indian women's movement must pressurize progressive forces to fight against sexism not only in the public sphere as trade unions and so on, but also in the private arena. International Viewpoint 27 October 1986