Gangoli - Indian feminisms: law, patriarchies and violence in India

INDIAN FEMINISMS

This book is dedicated to all the activists in the Indian
feminist movements for their efforts to make a difference

Law, Patriarchies and Violence in India

GEETANJALI GANGOLI

University of Bristol, UK

First published 2007 by Ashgate Publishing

Published 2016 by Routledge
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Copyright 2007 Geetanjali Gangoli

Geetanjali Gangoli has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Gangoli, Geetanjali

Indian feminisms : law, patriarchies and violence in India 1. Feminism - India - History 2. Women - India - Social conditions 3. Women - Legal status, laws, etc. - India

I. Title
305.4'2'0954

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gangoli, Geetanjali.

Indian feminisms : law, patriarchies, and violence in India / by Geetanjali Gangoli.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7546-4604-4 (alk. paper) 1. Feminism--India. 2. Family violence--Law and legislation--India. 3. Women--Legal status, laws, etc.--India. 4. Sex and law--India. I. Title.

HQ1742.G36 2007
305.420954--dc22

2006031459

ISBN-13: 978-0-7546-4604-4 (hbk)
ISBN-13: 978-1-3155-8829-2 (ebk)

Agni Pariksha: Trial by fire.

Awaaz-e-Niswaan: Literally, the voice of women; feminist organisation working predominantly with Muslim women in Mumbai.

Bindi: The holy dot or bindi is an auspicious makeup worn by young Hindu girls and women on their forehead, and is traditionally a red dot made with vermilion, and signifies female energy (shakti) and is considered a symbol of marriage.

Brahmin: Person belonging to the highest hindu caste of the varna system of traditional hindu society, and regarded to be responsible for societys spiritual aspects. A man born into a Brahmin family becomes twice-born (dvija) when he undergoes initiation into Vedic education.

Dalit: Dalit in Sanskrit is derived from the root dal which means to split, break, crack, used first by social reformer Jotiba Phule (18271890), to describe the outcastes and untouchables as the oppressed and broken victims of the Indian caste-ridden society. Used in contemporary India to describe Sudras.

Dharma: In Hindu philosophy, dharma means religious duty. In Buddhism dharma implies protection from suffering by following Buddhas teachings.

Harijan: The polite form for untouchable coined by Mahatma Gandhi literally people of God, however this term is considered condescending and Dalit is preferred.

Iddat: Islamic custom, wherein, upon the husbands death, or divorce or annulment of the marriage by some other manner, the woman has to remain confined in one house for a specified period of time. In case of divorce, she has to observe iddat till she has three consecutive menstrual periods, or if she is pregnant, until the child is born.

Janwadi Mahila Samiti: Democratic Womens Organisation, attached to the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Kali: Hindu goddess, known for her role as destructor of evil, a non-benign form of Goddess Parvati, wife of Shiva. Kali is worshipped nationally, but especially in Eastern India, and has also been used as a feminist icon.

Khanawali: Literally, provider of food, used by women cooking commercially for working class men.

Kshatriya: Person belonging to the warrior caste, derived from kshatra, meaning dominion, power, government.

Latni: Rolling pin.

Lok Sabha: Literally House of the People; similar in composition to the House of Commons in the UK, therefore made up of elected representatives from all over the country.

Mahila Atmaraksha Samiti: Womens Self Defence Organisation.

Mangalsutra: Literally auspicious thread, it is a string of black beads worn by married Hindu women, a symbol of matrimony.

Mehr: Mehr refers to a sum of money, or property that is agreed by a husband and wife at the point of marriage, payable to the woman at any agreed point during the marriage. If the marriage breaks down due to desertion, divorce or death, the husband is liable to pay the wife the agreed mehr.