Deconstructing the Stereotype: Reconsidering Indian Culture, Literature and Cinema

Chakraborty, Kaustav

Deconstructing the Stereotype: Reconsidering Indian Culture, Literature and Cinema

by Kaustav Chakraborty (Author)

Sociology - Media, Art, Music

53115

Summary

Stereotypes are mere 'pictures in our heads'. Prejudice and suspicion against all that is perceived of as ‘different’ give rise to cultural stereotypes. Creating stereotypes also involves connecting the created categories with values, equipping the categories with an ideational label. Thus, stereotypes often contain the presupposition that one’s own group represents the normal, or even universal and that one’s own culture and ist socially construed concepts of reality is superior and normative in relation to other cultures and world-views. The stereotypes are not just one person’s private attitude but are always shared with a larger socio-cultural group. Stereotypes result in simplifications that prevent people from seeing the ‘otherized’ individuals as they truly are. This book, aims at transgressing the boundaries of the strategically generated stereotyped image of a homogenous Indian culture. Rather, by highlighting the marginalised issues related to class, caste and gender, this book, by citing examples of select Indian literary and cinematic representations, argues that the stigma related to the non-conformist /alternative/minority identities, is baseless and fraudulent.

Excerpt

Queering India: Understanding the Constraints and Tracing the

Roots of the Problems

Kamalika Mukhopadhyay

INTRODUCTION

Our identity is not just in our name but also in our sexual orientation. It refers to our sexual

practice. It is a person's own discretion and choice with whom one prefers to have a sexual

relation. In modern times, we see that it is not just one's sex but also our sexual practice that

identifies us. For example, when someone practices homosexuality that person is identified as

homosexual just as one who practices law is a lawyer. However, on the other hand we see

that one who is heterosexual doesn't get identified as heterosexual. A prompt deduction that

can be made from this analysis is that, homosexual practice leads to homosexual identity but

that is not the case for the person who practices heterosexuality. Thus, the homosexual

practice becomes the primary identity of the person and the person is marked as homosexual

because heterosexual relation is accepted as a norm in our patriarchal society.

The sexuality that is not normal is termed as normative sexuality. It was referred as alterna-

tive or minority sexuality. The problem that arose was that, the moment we start using these

two terms then in a way we confirm the norm that there is an alternative sexuality. There is a

political problem in using the term because they further acknowledge the normalization of the

normative sexuality. On the other hand, by naming it as minority sexuality we marginalize a

particular kind of sexuality. Homosexuality and heterosexuality are not on equal terms

because heterosexuality is politically considered to be normal that marginalizes homosexuali-

ty. Hence, thereafter it came to be referred as non-normative sexuality which does not fall

within the normal regime. It was used to show that which is out of `normality' and it is not an

alternative, as it has been earlier referred. Thus, it was held that there can be different kinds

of sexuality like non-normative sexuality and hetero-normative sexuality. Now in recent

times, the word `Queer' is used instead of non-normative sexuality.

ORIGIN OF QUEER THEORY

Queer theory is grounded in gender and sexuality. Queer theory emerged in the 1990s out of

LGBT and feminist studies. The queer theory began to examine how sexuality and sexual

identity in all their forms from sexual orientation to sexual behavior are socially con-

structed. In critical reviews of gay and lesbian sexuality, for instance, queer theory alerts us to

an understanding that sexuality is fluid (Lindsey, 2011)

. It was more encouraged by the

growing theoretical interests in sexuality, particularly through the work of Michel Foucault.

This was conterminous with the adoption of the term `queer' by gay and lesbian activist

groups such as Queer Nation (Pilcher & Whelehan, 2004)

. It does not restrict itself just to

gay/lesbian studies but encompasses any kind of sexual activity or identity that falls in a

deviant category. The sexual minorities are all put under an umbrella naming them `Queer'

which means strange and unusual. It is something that does not fit into our stereotyped

notions and is not at all embraced by our patriarchal society. The normalization that comes

from a norm becomes naturalized.

The term queer was a deliberate appropriation of a term always used pejoratively and

homophobically in the past in order to facilitate more radical declarations of gay and lesbian

visibility (Pilcher & Whelehan, 2005)

. Queer theorists try to understand that individuals

cannot be classified just as male or female even on a biological basis. The theorists mainly

argue that a person cannot be categorized on the basis of one particular characteristic. For

example, a woman can be a woman without being labeled as a lesbian or a feminist. To do

such a thing is extremely wrong with that individual. It is a person's own individual identity

but one need not be labeled for having that individual characteristic.

SEXUALITY: AN ANALYSIS OF FOUCALT

Michel Foucault was a French socialist who practiced homosexuality. His major work is

`History of Sexuality'. Foucault's History of Sexuality explores the way in which the dis-

course of sexuality from the nineteenth century onwards provides new ways for power to

operate upon bodies. He sees sexuality as a power, a potential for the body to act or be in

certain ways (Colebrook, 2004)

. Sexuality is something that can be affected by social,

cultural and political change which is not natural. Sexual identity is a political identity and

anything political can change. He said that sexuality is not a biological phenomenon but

determined by various social and political factors. He is talking about sexuality as an identity

based on the practice which is under the realm of cultural that is constructed.

Following from the above discussions raised by anti-essentialist feminism, queer theory puts

to question all reigning schemes of gendered/sexual normativity. Queer theory cross exam-

ines the hegemonic structure of the patriarchal society. Queer theorist Eve Kosofsky Sedg-

wick has proposed some radical configurations of gender/sexual mapping which destabilize

the foundational narratives of sexual and gendered identity, and has established some exciting

new ways in which subject positioning may be reformulated (Gamble, 2001)

. Psychopathia

Sexualis is a book written by Kraft Ebbings in 1986 which uses homosexuality for the first

time.

SOCIAL UNDERSTANDING

Homosexuality is understood and explained in various ways. Firstly, the official homophobic

nationalist response is that homosexuality is western, and therefore does not exist in India. It

equates India and inner core as female and innately heterosexual needing constant protection

from "the West" and its corrupting forces of imperial homosexual exploitation and domina-

tion. However, homosexuality is not a concept that has been imported from the west but

rather it existed in India.

A second response argues that Indian culture is innately fluid, heterogeneous and adaptable,

unlike the essentially fixed position. India is known for historically accommodating fluid

homoerotic spaces, especially since it is so sex-segregated and homosocial, yet being straight

in India is almost queer.

Third response is the "global gay" narrative, which argues that the global modern gay identity

is an inevitable consequence of modernity, globalization, and the exchange and movements

of ideas and persons. Thus local globalized gays have arrived to claim their space and rights,

just like "western" queer.

The fourth position understands how certain destinies and identities seem fixed, while others

seem chaotic, disorderly, simultaneous and new. Identity formations represent shifting

political powers. Group affiliations such as sexual categories and their political economies in

India are not always the same as in the "West" but are always marked by it in uneven ways

(Bhaskaran, 2004)

Babies are assigned a sex category and based on that they are raised in an appropriate gender.

The debate between Biosocial and strong social constructionist perspective is ongoing but it

has important implications for how we think about the relationship between sex and gender.

The perspective of strong social constructionists is about gender and not sex. From biological

perspective it is important to specify when we mean sex and when we are actually referring to

the gender. Scholars from both perspectives will use the terms, but keeping in mind that,

depending upon one's own perspective the terms can mean different things (Ryle, 2012)

SOCIAL CONSTRAINTS

In our society, women have a very derogatory stand and especially if they are lesbian,

transsexual or bisexual then they are even more heckled in their surroundings. Women

stepping out of heterosexual norms are seen as being doubly subversive (Seager, 2009)

Homosexual women are also women. Similarly, the gay man is more vulnerable than the

heterosexual man. Homosexuality is nothing abnormal but just another form of sexuality.

The queer problem is considered to be the most trivial in our society. One of the journalists

Ushashi Chakraborty says that, most people react and say that they are not lesbians, none of

their friends or relatives are also like them so why do they need to think about them? They

are the perverts, the "other" of our society. It is tragic yet true how pathetically our society

demarcates them.

It is not only the outside community people who think them to be pervert but unfortunately

they themselves also sometimes think so. Their greatest opposition is their families. The

social problem is one of the major constraints faced by the queer people. Homosexuality is

not against any culture. Science has proved that homosexuality is not a preference but an

orientation. This truth has only been rejected through resistance.

SUPPORT GROUPS FOR GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER

PEOPLE: SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON SAPPHO AND SWIKRITI

Both Sappho and Swikriti are Kolkata based support groups.

SAPPHO AND SAPPHO FOR EQUALITY-A SUPPORT GROUP FOR LESBIAN,

BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER WOMEN

Sappho, a Kolkata based support group for lesbian, bisexual and transgender, founded on 20

June, 1999, is the only group of its kind in Eastern India. It derives its name from the legend-

ary character Sappho of ancient Greek literature, who was one of the most popular female

poets from Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. The mission of the organization is to address the

issues of sexually marginalized women in our society and to broaden the struggle for democ-

racy for their equal rights, within the nation-state and beyond. Their vision is a society free of

sexuality-based discriminations. The initial goal of the organization was to provide safe space

for women with same sex preference; gradually it moved into a rights oriented movement to

fight discrimination and hatred against marginalized women. They provide a non-judgmental

and non-discriminatory support of everyone who seeks their help. In the larger society they

are committed to fight the hegemonic hetero-normative order while affirming diversities and

resisting divisiveness. Their struggle is against heterosexism.

Sappho for Equality is a forum that has emerged as an effort to bridge the ever-widening gulf

between queer and non-queer community in India aspiring to become a collective voice of all

cross-sections of society who feel the imperative to challenge the hegemonic hetero-

normative order that rules our present. It is a journey that reflects a shift from services to

activism.

Chetana is a resource center on sexuality conceived and supported by Sappho for Equality

aspiring to create awareness about sexuality. The center provides facilities for personal and

legal counseling through the service of experts in the respective fields. It hopes to build

bridges of communication with all thinking and endeavoring people for a better understand-

ing of LGBT issues and to create a wider base for the feminist and human rights movement.

The organization also arranges for empowerment sessions.

The love of a woman for another woman cannot be denied. Their sexuality is something that

needs to be recognized. These women are denied their existence and looked upon as a sexed

subject. They are looked upon as a minority when from all other angles they belong to the

majority.

Sappho believes, it is necessary to be a part of the larger society who feels that a woman

cannot be outcast on the ground of her sexual orientation. This is to be true even in case of

men. Sappho does not confine itself within a specific community but goes beyond.

SWIKRITI: WORKING WITH SEXUALITY

Swikriti starts its endeavor with self acceptance through self questioning i.e. "Do you accept

yourself as you are?" Those who have a problem in accepting themselves as they are, Swikriti

helps them. It questions the fundamental misconceptions regarding sex, sexuality, sexual

orientation and gender identity. Swikriti creates awareness among the people and fights the

politics of marginalization on grounds of sexual preference.

It helps marginalized people to fight for their rights and provides a friendly counseling.

Swikriti spreads scientific information on various sexual topics. Swikriti pays attention to

effeminate teenagers who are visibly vulnerable and facing harassment and sexual exploita-

tion from their peers and others leading to severe undermining of their self esteem. It also

provides scientific sex education.

Swikriti aims at generating a greater understanding in the larger society of issues concerning

sexual minorities, adolescents and youth. It enables them to be their own ambassadors to the

larger society. It organizes activities to promote their economic independence and self

esteem. It advocates their influencers about their sexuality and related needs.

FOCUS ON LAW: SECTION 377 OF THE INDIAN PENAL CODE

The Indian Law Commission, presided over by Lord Macaulay, introduced the colonial anti-

sodomy stature, Section 377, into the Indian Penal Code on October 6, 1860 in British India.

The earliest case mentioned in the commentaries as related to Section 377 is dated 1832

(Bhaskaran, 2004)

. Delhi High Court legalizes homosexuality while saying that article 377

of Indian Penal Code is against article 21. The movement to repeal Section 377 was initiated

by the AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan in 1991 and it was reviewed in the next decade

which was led by Naz Foundation (India) Trust, an activist group, which filed public interest

litigation in the Delhi High Court in 2001, seeking legalization of homosexual intercourse

between consenting adults. Decriminalizing homosexuality would cause a breach of peace

and lead to spread HIV and AIDS, causing further harm to people. The historic judgment was

passed on 2

July, 2009 when the Delhi High Court legalized consensual homosexual

activities between the adults by reading down the section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. A

Bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S Muralidhar said that if not amended,

section 377 of the IPC would violate article 14 and 21 of the Indian constitution, which states

that every citizen has equal opportunity of life and is equal before the law. It is essential to

note here that just reading down of the article and giving it a new interpretation is not enough

to help the queer people. In the court cases it can just be used as a precedent and nothing

more. One genuinely good side is that queer issues have started being recognized.

Priyadarshi Dutta a gay activist as well as a gay himself feels that the Article 377 of the IPC

will facilitate more emphasis on `safe sex' than arresting men for just having sex. No person

should be accused of having a same sex preference.

While discussing with the members of the LGBT organizations I came to know the pros and

cons of the Sexual Assault Bill. The members of Sappho were dicey about the debate which

centers around this Bill which is whether it should be made gender neutral or not because if

it's done so then perhaps it will be a danger for the lesbian women or the men who are Kothis

i.e. who are effeminate men, as a woman can falsely bring an allegation against a lesbian

woman for compelling her to perform some sexual act with her and the same can be the case

with man. This can be used for a very positive side too, as we have seen that many a times

women are harassed in the police custody by the female constables as well as it is same in the

case of men also, so if the law is gender neutral then it shall help to safeguard and protect the

men and women from such harassments.

LEGAL AND SOCIAL CASES

In some countries, governments are slowly responding to pressure to offer protection and

recognition for lesbian and gay rights. The lesbian and gay fall prey to atrocious exploita-

tions. Lesbians are often raped, sometimes by family members, as a punishment or as a

"treatment" for their homosexuality. While it is difficult to generalize about what provokes

such strong homophobia, it is clear that the presence of lesbians and gays challenges compla-

cency about narrow definition of what constitutes a family, household, or "normal" sexual

relationships (Seager, 2009)

Since the late 1980s, the mainstream news media have reported incidents of "double lesbian

suicides" and "lesbian marriages" and public contention due to the formation of friendship

contracts. In the accounts of double suicides many women have been high school, or college

students. The media reports mention love letters discovered by the police (Bhaskaran, 2004)

It is necessary for us to come up with more fictional stories and films based on queer issues

with which such people can relate themselves. Films like Fire and My Brother Nikhil had a

great impact on both queer and non-queer people. Fire had different warmth for the lesbians

as narrated by one of the activists: "For those of us who are lesbians, the film is a milestone

because it has pushed the politics of same-sex love into the limelight with an unprecedented

amount of publicity and hype." Carol Upadhya in an EPW article saw the lesbian relationship

in Fire as a model of resistance to male control of female sexuality (Basu, 2006)

. Commer-

cial film like Dostana, which is not a film about gay rights but a light hearted comedy on

pretending to be a gay couple, opens a tiny window to the gay world. Bhanderkar's film

Fashion gives homosexuality a more tad recognition, which shows a fashion designer who

gets married to a girl who prefers sexless marriage with a gay over an unfaithful husband. A

similar glimpse of it is seen in Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.

SOCIAL CASES

Women who are lesbians, bisexuals or transgender suffer and go through many problems in

their lives which make them weak as human beings. The social problem can be regarded as

the major problem. I will here put forward some of the major incidents that happened to

them.

Firstly when the families get to know about the orientation of these women they throw

tantrums and mostly refuse to accept them as family members. Such young girls suddenly

become outsiders. They get victimized due to their sexual orientation. The girls complain that

they get referred to as perverts or sex maniacs. Mother and daughter relationship gets diluted

once the sexual orientation of the daughter is known. Sappho hence helps such women and

intervenes even in their family life and try to make them understand. One of the eminent

members of Sappho, Malabika says that the importance gained by talking to a heterosexual

person about homosexuality gets doubled when a heterosexual person talks to another

heterosexual person about homosexuality. However these women are also getting enough

courage now to come out in the public sphere and talk about it. A woman might find her

happiness in staying with another woman. Getting a homosexual woman married to a

heterosexual man can cause a lifelong hamper and disaster to a well going good relationship.

Sappho handles such cases delicately and tactfully.

Secondly at times the doctors instead of thinking of any specific treatment for her patient is

more keen on getting into her personal domain and tries to make them feel that they are not

normal. In one of the cases of a transgender woman she has stated this fact. She says that she

happens to be a woman by body but man in mind. This is a contradiction but then human

beings survive with many contradictions in them. She went to the doctor with the hope that

the doctor will help her out to reduce this contradiction but instead it is highlighted that she is

wrong, sick and not a normal woman. After coming to Sappho this particular woman started

believing in herself as a normal but different entity. Sappho as it is said earlier provides

counselling for all these women, which gives them a mental stability and helps those to retain

their confidence rather than becoming a complete wreck.

Thirdly many times it happens that a lesbian couple wants to get married and settled but

unfortunately there is no such provision for them in India. Although if two women stay

together it's not of a much problem to society rather it is more in case of two men staying

together but yet it lacks the legal sanction if they are in love and share a sexual relation. They

lack certain rights like they don't get a spouse Visa. Moreover they cannot make their

partners nominees for any insurance policy. In case they have an adopted child and if they

want to make a will whereby the property will first pass down to her partner afterwards to her

child, the case might become little problematic. Certain laws need to be reformed for the

benefit of such women.

The suicide rates in Kerala have touched the highest in India, mostly among the young girls.

Many of these suicides occurred when two women were forced to get married or coercively

separated. The initial reports never gave away an overt impression of same-sex desire as the

causal factor behind these suicides. Mini, a postgraduate student from Kerala Varma College,

Trichur committed suicide when her friendship with another girl was given a lesbian colour-

ing. Some of the major support based organizations working in Kerala to assist such girls are

Sahayatrika, Malabar Cultural Forum in Calicut, Loveland Arts Society, Vaathil, Chilla and

Maitri in Trivandrum and many more. The Queer movement in Kerala is moving forward to

carve a way of its own in the Kerala public sphere.

A mention worthy case was a letter exchanged between the father of a gay man and a well

known Kolkata based queer activist. The father was confused about what it means for his son

to be gay. He had no problem with his son being a gay but what bothered him was whether

gay men were in search of affection or having multiple sex partners, because his son often

complained that he is being changed by his partners from time to time on the basis that in the

gay world everyone is for everybody unlike in the world of straight people. He also questions

whether gay movement is only concerned with safe physical pleasure. The activist's response

was that gay movement is not about gaining rights to have multiple sex partners but to gain

rights which are already enshrined in our constitution. He made it clear that like in any

heterosexual relation, there are many people in homosexual relation who crave for a steady

relationship and continue with their partners for a lifetime. There are cases where after being

in a long distance relationship gay men have been successful in keeping up their commitment

towards their partners. Commitment is very much a part of many gay people's life.

Susanta Pramanick from Gobardanga was 24years old when he first found his romantic

partner in 1996. The relationship lasted for four years until finally his partner shifted his base

to Mangalore. However they are still friends. Family oppositions came from everyone except

his mother when he declared that he won't get married. He states, "My mother said outright

that it was her son's decision whether to get married or not. And if she did not have a

problem with his single status, there was no reason why anyone else should be bothered."

In Kolkata Puja pandal three guys were harassed by ten other guys just because of the fact

that they were effeminate. The question that comes up in mind is that which way are we

heading? Our humanity can only teach us how to give respect to others in order to get respect.

The most widely publicized media case was the marriage of Leela and Urmilla in a small

town in North India. They affirmed their friendship and commitment to each other by getting

married at a Hindu temple in 1988. The Indian Express (May 7, 1988) reported that the

"wedding" of two women constables has caused considerable embarrassment to the Madhya

Pradesh Police. The Kolkata paper, The Telegraph, reported of "Lesbians Fail to Get Mar-

ried" (April 17, 1993) when two girls from Sadi Taluka ran into problems with the registrar

of marriage and police when they went to get married. Despite the fact that the parents

supported the union, the police and registrar tried to dissuade them and finally they failed to

get married (Bhaskaran, 2004)

Educational institutions aim at making us better human beings by fostering in us the under-

standing for those who are not exactly like us. However, unfortunately they are at times

manned by those who are not very encouraging of differences. The good part is that, despite

such resistance there are couple of universities in India which are coming up with Queer

Theory or Gay and Lesbian Studies like University of Hyderabad, Pune University, Jadavpur

University and IGNOU.

LEGAL CASES

Sappho helps woman legally who needs any kind of legal aid. Like women who are married

but are lesbian might be tortured by their husbands. Sappho takes them to their legal adviso-

ries and consults such cases with them. When a daughter is denied her rights to her father's

property because she is homosexual then Sappho fights for her in providing her legal support.

The India Today reported (April 15, 1990) a case of Tarulata, a 33 years old woman who

underwent a sex change in 1987 to become a man Tarunkumar, to marry Lila Chavda in

December, 1989 and the kind of situation they had to face after that, both legally and

socially. The Gujrat High Court stated that since "it is a lesbian relationship" action needed to

be undertaken on grounds of Section 377 to annul the marriage. The "writ petition" states

"Tarunkumar possesses neither the male organ nor any natural mechanism of cohabitation,

sexual intercourse and procreation of children. Adoption of any unnatural mechanism does

not create manhood and as such Tarunkumar is not a male." It was further stated that even an

impotent Hindu male can marry because impotency is no bar to his marriage. In this case

Tarunkumar was not a Hindu male at the time of birth (Bhaskaran, 2004)

Unlimited tragic incidents of lesbian double suicides kept on appearing in various regional

newspapers. The Telegraph (Calcutta, April 16, 1995) reported that two young women in the

Narkeldanga police station area were "physically, mentally and emotionally tortured" for

being unavailable to another single woman who also happened to be involved with each

other. The abusive situation "drove one woman to suicide in front of the train tracks." A

student named Saijamol and her teacher, Gita consumed poison together as they could not

bear separation and finally had to commit suicide and died in Trichur, Kerala. Two Kerala

tribal girls Ragini and Manju, who were cousins, "ended their lives because of the trauma of

not being allowed to live together." The account states that the girls had been living together

for some time and that they had asked their relatives to get them married. When the relatives

objected the girls approached the local station with the same request which was denied but

apparently the police offered them some counselling and sent them home. These stories

clearly indicate how rigid our judicial system is. One of the positive examples of "maitre

karar" or friendship pacts between unrelated adult women was achieved by the marriage of

two women Neeru Sharma and Meenu Sharma, which was reported in the Bombay Dost as

"Woman Weds Woman" (1993) that writes how on July 9 a wedding took place in a temple

in NH-3 in the presence of family and friends (Bhaskaran, 2004)

CONCLUSION

Hence, I conclude over here by saying that there is no end to such cases. Queers are constant-

ly being denied their rights and deprived from getting their dues. NGOs are playing a subtle

role in a very bold way to combat such situation effectively. I think that still many people

need to be made aware about the working of these organizations. The visibility to the public

gaze needs to be increased.

I feel probably making an online interactive forum where the issues can be dealt in a dialogue

form will be an effective way of creating mass awareness. After talking to the senior mem-

bers of Sappho the first recommendation that I found is that they need a second set of leaders

to take this campaign ahead. The most important recommendation given by Malabika is that

they hope to mobilize and network at the national and international level in such a way that

one day should come when there is no need of such support group. This can only be possible

through Youth Mobilization and interactions amongst people.

In my paper I have made an honest attempt to understand the social and legal constraints of

queering India and tracing the roots of these problems. The challenges met by the queer

people are paramount which they have to swallow silently. Serious actions need to be taken

as suggested by various social and queer activists to overcome this fear and threat of being

accused due to one's sexual orientation with effective means. To give everyone their dues we

need to combat this situation and the hegemonic patriarchal structure within which the

normative sexuality gets predominance and all other non-normative sexuality goes unnoticed.

I believe that more and more interaction with the larger society can help in bringing about

this upheaval change. Let's all be together and fight for equal justifiable rights for these men

and women and start mobilizing before it is too late. We need to bring the new dawn in our

society by driving out the wrong notions and misconceptions that are driven by the patriar-

chal society to fulfil its own interests. We are all waiting for a free society to come up where

there shall be no such bias.

Notes

1. Linda L. Lindsey, Gender Roles, 2011, pp. 33-34.

2. Jane Pilcher and Imelda Whelehan, Fifty Key Concepts in Gender Studies, 2004, pp.

128-129.

3. Jane Pilcher and Imelda Whelehan, Fifty Key Concepts in Gender Studies, 2004, pp.

129.

4. Claire Colebrook, Gender, 2004, pp. 206, 217.

5. Sarah Gamble, Ed., The Routledge Companion to Feminism and Postfeminism, 2001,

pp.61.

6. Suparna Bhaskaran, Made in India, 2004, pp. 97-101.

7. Robyn Ryle, Questioning Gender, 2012, pp. 8-9.

8. Joni Seager, The Atlas of Women in the World, 2009, pp.26.

9. Suparna Bhaskaran, Made in India, 2004, pp. 85-86.

10. Joni Seager, The Atlas of Women in the World, 2009, pp.26.

11. Suparna Bhaskaran, Made in India, 2004, pp. 124-125.

12. Amit Ranjan Basu, Lesbianism in Kolkata, 2006, pp. 19-25.

13. Suparna Bhaskaran, Made in India, 2004, pp. 126.

14. Suparna Bhaskaran, Made in India, 2004, pp. 134.

15. Suparna Bhaskaran, Made in India, pp. 134-135, 143, 146, 2004.

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Issues in Indian Federalism and Minority Women: Consequences

of Differentiated Asymmetric Arrangements

Samir Sharma

Introduction: Framework of the Paper

The paper will be divided into four sections. Section I will lay not only the theoretical

framework and the scope of the paper in understanding the issues involved, but will also

identify the central problem. Section II will chart the institutional and legal framework

(protections) relating to minorities. This, it will be argued, is the crux of understanding the

manner in which a differentiated notion of citizenship is introduced into Indian federalism,

thus making it asymmetric

. It is my contention that it is here the problem reveals itself.

Section III will analyze the socio-political and cultural consequences of such protection(s),

especially with regard to minority women and people that are considered as 'outsiders' or

'migrants'. The notion of 'outsider' or 'migrant', it will be further argued, is crucial to the

understanding of what is referred to as the 'fixing of identities'. Section IV will present, by

way of a conclusion, an attempt to evaluate the working of these arrangements and will

broadly take issue with the emerging trends and (re)definition of the notions of both Indian

federalism and the differentiated citizenship arrangements therein.

Section I: Scope and Objectives of the Paper

This paper identifies a central problem which unfolds, it will be argued, when a `differentiat-

ed' notion of citizenship is sought to be practiced through the means of 'asymmetric' federal-

ism'. This is observed when on the one hand contemporary literature on citizenship empha-

sizes the need to transcend statist and formal-legal notions towards a more 'differentiated',

'transversal', 'contextualized', 'dialogical' and 'relational' approach, that takes cognizance of

citizenship as a 'lived experience'. While on the other hand, the writings on the notions and

application of (asymmetric) federalism, though devoting itself towards a continuing attempt

to recognize and manage 'contextualized' differences (that arise out of various diversities),

also simultaneously retains the overarching framework which is conceived mostly in terms of

a 'national polity', which for all practical purposes is sought to be represented by the 'state'.

It is this problem, the paper will seek to show, that gives rise to the various issues and debates

related to the rights of women in minority groups and migrants.

Articulations of groups and communities to be recognized,

due to the unfolding of the

democratization process, have raised many issues that pertain to questions of 'whom', 'when'

and to 'what degree' should 'recognition' be granted, and also importantly, on what condition-

alities. Among other things, it is this conditional recognition of diversity that informs the

discussion in the paper. In view of the increased mobility that is induced by the forces of

modernization and urbanization, it has also been noted that while it does lead to an increased

level of connectivity and interaction among various hitherto isolated groups, these forces

have also often created situations of conflict and contests in the polity (Myron Weiner 1978).

Thus, it will be essential for us to bring the two corpus of contemporary writings on citizen-

ship and federalism together through a 'historical' and an 'analytical-conceptual' approach.

Section II : Federal Asymmetry and Differentiated Citizenship in India

In contemporary times many democratic states are taking cognizance of 'difference' and

'diversity' within their polity and attempts are being made to formulate corresponding policies

to respond, manage and possibly resolve such conflicts. Since the diversity in India with

regard to language, religion, region and ethnicity is tremendous, the framers of the Constitu-

tion argued, among other things, for an asymmetric federal design as a means to 'accommo-

date' these diversities. Special provisions for affirmative action, a variety of personal and

customary laws, the decision not to impose a uniform civil code, constitutional protection of

cultural and educational rights of linguistic and religious minorities, a secular notion of

citizenship that was defined by civic and (differentiated) universalistic criteria were among

the many provisions that indicated the recognition of four important categories of diversity---

that of caste, language, region and religion (Ashutosh Kumar, 2005:94).

It is here that one can note a crucial omission, that of gender. As Indira Jaising (2004:

292) has pointed out that the 'constitutional discourse' in the Constituent Assembly showed

the concern that the framers had for the issues of 'gender'. The dilemmas and issues of the

partition took center-stage which sought to provide protection for the emerging 'political

union' of India. Jaising notes the views of two members, R.A Kaur and Mrs H. Mehta, who

'displayed incredible foresight' in bringing out the issues of women that would be crucial in

the 'post-independent period'. These included the demand for a rephrase of draft Article 19,

which became Article 25 in the present Indian Constitution, where the two members had

wanted a 'rephrase' so that any possible challenge to a reform law that sought to address

women (and their issues) would not be deemed as an 'interference with the freedom of

religion.' Jaising also notes that the Constitution left to the courts to 'give life to the equality

code' while remaining silent on how, given a certain situation was, the 'right to equality' be

applied (Ibid: 294). When the question of 'conflict' between 'right to equality' and 'right to

religion' came to the forefront as far as 'personal laws' were concerned, the Bombay High

Court in State vs. Narasu Appa Mali (AIR 1952 Bom 84) and Srinivasa Aiyar vs. Saraswati

Ammal (AIR 1952 Bom 84) judgement 'immunized' personal laws from judicial review, even

when they would violate Fundamental Rights of women.

The Constitution also recognized the need for a separate political and administrative

structure, among other tribes, for the hill tribal areas of the erstwhile areas of Assam and the

rest of India. This was done through the Sixth and the Fifth Schedules. The Sixth Schedule

was specifically meant for the hill areas of Assam. However, there were also voices in the

Constituent Assembly that were against this kind of conception of differentiated asymmetric

arrangements. One of the members, Babu Ramnarayan Singh, held that there should be only

one administration in 'every part of the country' and that colonial constructs such as the

'backward tracts' and the 'partially excluded areas' should not be the vocabulary of the

emerging Indian state. But these areas persisted in the Constitution of India as the Scheduled

Areas

which were exempted from the ordinary administrative structures of the country.

Bhupinder Singh (2007: 1-2), analyzing the Constituent Assembly debates that took place on

the 5

, 6

and 7

of September 1949, perceives three 'schools of thought' that could be

observed among the members. They are as follows,

a) Those that were represented by members like Brajeshwar Prasad who proposed that

the areas brought under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution should be administered

directly by the Centre.

b) Those represented by members like Kuladhar Chaliha and Rohini Kumar

Chaudhuri who were both from Assam. They expressed doubts regarding the ability of the

tribal people to govern themselves and maintain peaceful relations with non-tribal people. In

their view assimilation of the tribals was the best policy. They argued that the creation of the

autonomous district under the Sixth Schedule would amount to a `weapon' that would lead to

a 'tribalistan' (like Pakistan) and a 'communistan.'

c) Those represented by Rev J.J.M Nichols Roy, Jaipal Singh and Gopinath Bardoloi

who were advocates of the tribal cause. They explained that generosity was required on their

part as far as the tribal people were concerned. Jaipal Singh argued that to view the tribal

people of the hills as hostile to the Indian Union was misguided, and that their culture and the

ways of life must not be abolished. It was in this context, they said, that self-government was

necessary and any use of force (through the army or the Assam Rifles) would not be condu-

cive towards a solution of the issue.

Selma K. Sonntag (1999) argues that the primary reasons for this kind perception of

distrust and unwillingness in granting autonomy to the hill areas, especially articulated by the

'school of thought' that was represented by certain members of the Assembly was 'security'

and 'paternalism' on the part of the erstwhile British colonial state. For the new Indian state

the loyalty of these areas was also in question, as was the case of the Nagas. There therefore

emerged a tension regarding the option of either assimilating the minorities or respecting the

minorities' culture. Those who favored assimilation argued against the setting up of the

Scheduled Areas and Autonomous District Councils (ADCs). However, the dominance of

Nehruvian liberals in the Assembly meant that national identity was sought to be put forward

through the policy of (multicultural) accommodation rather than by imposition.

To explain her position, Sonntag juxtaposes the Fifth and the Sixth Schedules which

guaranteed the creation of ADCs in the tribal areas. She is of the view that the Fifth Schedule

was much more acceptable to the 'assimilationists' than the Sixth Schedule because it was

conceived as a temporary measure which had as its 'ultimate goal' the assimilation of the

tribals into the 'economic mainstream.' The Fifth Schedule also did not provide for any

provisions of self-government (or self-rule), while the Sixth Schedule did. The 'practical

reason' for the differences in the Fifth and the Sixth Schedules was the fact that only the

tribes that were located on the Southern flank of the Brahmaputra in Assam would get

autonomous councils because that was where the opposition to the integration into the new

Indian Union existed. The Sixth Schedule was therefore, the outcome of the 'delicate negotia-

tions' between these tribes and the new government of India (Sonntag 1999: 21-2).

The Subcommittee on the North East Frontier (Assam) Tribal and Excluded Areas

argued that the nature of autonomy expressed by the various groups were different

. Howev-

er, a broad similarity was present on the issues relating to land rights, customs, traditions and

traditional-indigenous institutions among most groups in the North East. The subcommittee

observed that there was a generic fear of exploitation in the minds of the tribes because of

which they favored the continuation of the Inner Line Regulation

that was introduced by the

British government. Without it, the groups argued, non-tribals would exploit them in the non-

agricultural professions. It is interesting to note that an Expert Committee on Plains Tribes of

Assam (1992) with Bhupinder Singh as its Chairman that was appointed by the Government

of India made an investigation into the workings of the Sixth Schedule and among other

things it observed that there was a sense of alarm with 'unchecked population' from the plains

among the local groups.

It might be noted that the Sixth Schedule empowered the ADC's to

make laws with respect to marriage, inheritance, property, land and social customs and that

the Khasi Hill Autonomous District Council (KHADC) sought to enact the Khasi Social

Customs of Lineage Bill (henceforth Khasi Bill) as an exercise of this power.

It becomes clear from the preceding debates that though the Constitution recognized

diversity and difference, it was very cautious in its approach in recognizing it

. This, referred

to as a fear of 'excessive federalism', argues Balveer Arora (1995 and 2010), was present

initially because of historical reasons that existed at the time of the birth of the Union, but

gradually it seems that there exists a selective recognition of diversity. In effect, not all

diversities were recognized in India. Though there were many Articles in the Constitution

which did, the full potential of the federal design was not realized. The reluctant recognition

of diversity caused diversity to be viewed as a divisive force. Ethno-linguistic groups had to

prove that they were 'important enough' to be institutionally recognized and when the

democratic process of the polity was unable to channelize such demands, it often turned out

to be a serious challenge to the state sometimes even leading to violence.

Voicing such concerns Gurpreet Mahajan (1996: 64-9) says that there was a much

stronger emphasis on the size of a community and the entire debate in the Constituent

Assembly was based upon an understanding where a distinction was made between a 'politi-

cal' and an 'ethnic' minority. Accordingly, the framers felt that people would participate in the

democratic process along community lines where size would be a determining factor and

where ethnic or religious majorities would also be political majorities and vice-versa. There

was thus a fixing of identity, where one identity (or diversity) was recognized and privileged

over the others and in the case of India, religion was taken to mean the 'most significant

indicator of personal identity'. Therefore, internally differentiated and stratified aspects based

on language, region, caste and gender, both for the Hindu majority and the minorities, did not

figure in this understanding.

Apart from these issues certain provisions in the Constitution, like Article 44, which

urges the state to work towards establishing a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has generated a lot

of debate including major controversies. The UCC is listed in the `Directive Principles' but

only as a non-justifiable guideline. The root of this conflict was located in the twin notion of

rights enshrined in the Fundamental Rights of the Constitution. Subsequently, the unit of the

right bearer was both the individual and the collective. The individual derive their rights from

Articles 14 to 24 which provide for equality and freedom and the collective derive their rights

from Articles 25 to 30 which guarantee religious freedom and also the cultural and educa-

tional rights of minorities. Such rights also serve as the basis of 'personal' and 'customary'

laws which cover matters of marriage, inheritance and guardianship of children among

various minority groups.

Nivedita Menon (1998) argues that since all personal laws are seen to discriminate

against the women the tension can be conceptualized as a 'contradiction' between the rights of

women as 'individual' citizens of the society, and those of religious communities which form

the collective units of democracy. However the reference of the UCC debate, argues Menon

(1998:PE3), was set in terms of the 'secular' and religious communities where gender and the

concerns for women appeared as invisible. Taking cue from Derrida (1976), Menon says that

gender in these set terms appears as a supplement in a double sense; that which is a mere

addition, like an extra and also only as a supplement that is supposed to fill a void, or an

absence (Ibid: PE3).

Section III: Consequences of Asymmetry and Differentiated Arrangements on Minority

Women

Many issues that we have discussed in the preceding section, like that of women and their

rights, especially those arising out of marriage and internal migration, have been raised by

various communities. All these issues may be regarded as linked by the notion of the 'out-

sider', who it is believed, is a disadvantage to the indigenous people and the `local' in the

exercise of their rights and opportunities. Taking such a background into account this section

will examine the consequences of special asymmetric provisions that have been enshrined in

the Constitution where specifically we will examine Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir

(J&K) and the Sixth Schedule with reference to Meghalaya. In illustrating the kind of issues

these asymmetric differentiated arrangements we will examine the Inner Line Permit, Khasi

Social Customs of Lineage Bill in Meghalaya and the Permanent Resident (Disqualification)

Bill in J&K.

In the case of the North East the Inner Line Permit (ILP) which is an official travel

document issued by the Government of India to allow inward travel of an Indian citizen into a

protected/restricted area(s) within the territorial limits of the state for a limited period has

been a bone of contention among various ethnic and other groups.

It might be noted that

the permit is issued only to an Indian citizen. The ILP can be seen as an effort by the gov-

ernment to regulate movement in certain areas that are located near the international border,

and are applicable to the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and inter-state

borders in Assam.

The Inner Line Regulation of 1873 prohibited access to all these areas to

'outsiders', except for those with the permit. Archana Upadhyay (2009: 30) says that the line

created 'a frontier within a frontier' which leads to an accentuation of the 'already existing

rift' between the tribals and the non-tribals. The Government of India Act 1935 continued

this policy which declared most of the hilly areas of the region as 'excluded areas' and these

were to be outside the jurisdiction of the provincial legislature. It is this Act in Section 311

clause 1, says Upadhyay drawing from the work of J. David Whittaker (2001: 1), that

invented the term 'tribal areas' which was defined as, "the areas along the frontiers of India,

or in Baluchistan which are not part of British India, or of Burma, or of any Indian State, or

of any foreign State" (Ibid: 30). These areas, as we have already discussed above, were later

inducted into the Sixth Schedule.

Virginius Xaxa (2008: 480-81) notes that there are three issues that are interlinked

with regard to migration, inheritance and land rights. First, that of tribal traditions and tribal

customary law, according to which land is held through lineage and not by the individual. In

this case it is seen that apart from using it the land cannot be transferred by sale or any other

means. This clearly shows the rationale of the two bills, though in different contexts; where

both seek to control and regulate 'marriage' with a view to limit the rights of women (inher-

itance, citizenship and property). Secondly, the issue also relates to transfer of land from

tribal to non-tribals

which has been a cause of tension not only in the North East, but as

Arun Kumar (2006: 207-08) has pointed out, in many other tribal belts across India.

In the

case of J&K the issue is seen in terms of transfers from 'permanent residents' to noon (perma-

nent) residents and in Meghalaya, from the Khasis to the non-Khasis (or non-tribal). Thirdly,

in the case of Meghalaya, the issue also relates to the use of tribal reservations for employ-

ment or other purposes by the children born from inter-tribal (or non-tribal) marriages. In

J&K, the issue may also be seen in terms of employment in the public sector.

The KHADC under paragraph 3 of the Sixth Schedule had the power to make laws,

among other subjects, on marriage, divorce, and social customs. KHADC also had constitu-

tional jurisdiction over Khasi customary law---- the largely unwritten indigenous laws

recognized and applied by the community to its different facets of social and political

interaction. In exercising its powers to make laws under paragraph 3, clauses (h), (i) and (j) of

the Sixth Schedule, the KHADC contended that such an Act was necessary to provide for a

strict following of the prevailing Khasi social customs of lineage and to preserve the tradi-

tional matrilineal system of society. The Act also sought to prevent claims of Khasi status by

'unscrupulous' persons purely for benefits, concessions or privileges conferred on the Khasi

tribe as members of the Scheduled Tribe.

Nongbri (2003: 229-56) notes that the most significant aspect of this construction is

that while it reiterates the traditional custom of lineage as firmly grounded in matrilineal

principles according to which a child would always belong to his/her mother's kur, jait or

clan, yet, if a Khasi woman or a man has a non-Khasi spouse, then the offspring along with

the parents would be required to prove their bonafide in accordance with the prescribed

norms in order to retain or acquire their identity as Khasis. Further, Section 10 of the Bill also

clearly states that a Khasi person shall lose Khasi status if he/she fails to comply with any

requirements or provisions of the Act or the rules or orders made there under, or fails to

observe the Khasi matrilineal system of lineage or Khasi laws of inheritance, succession,

consanguinity and kinship, or has adopted other laws, or is deprived of Khasi status by a

court. The onus of proof is also on the person who asserts that he/she is a Khasi and the order

depriving the person of the status could be made by the registration authority simply on a

complaint, report or information by any person, authority, chief, headman, association, body

or even on its own motion. Section 19 of the bills forbids civil courts from taking up cases

that are likely to be thrown up by the implementation of this Bill. Thus, a form of state

control over identity is put forward where eventually the woman's 'body' becomes the site of

the contest leading to a conditional recognition of diversity. It follows that any person who

has been deprived by the loss of the Khasi status would be automatically divested of his/her

right to inheritance, succession and the person would no longer be entitled to any privilege or

concession which a Khasi person would be otherwise eligible as a member of the Khasi

Scheduled Tribe. The people who go against this could be imprisoned and/ or fined for

violation.

The implications for women are great as is also exemplified by the Permanent

Resident (Disqualification) Bill (henceforth Daughter's Bill) introduced in the J&K state

legislative assembly. In the said Bill a woman had to forego all her rights as the 'state subject'

of J&K, if she chooses to marry a person who was not a state subject (Singh and Vohra,

2007). The similarity of the two in their objective makes it clear that in constitutionally

protected areas like J&K and Meghalaya, questions about the gendered notion of citizenship

that is inherent and made explicit in the various policy responses and laws are rarely ad-

dressed. This is further made complex, as has been pointed out by Anupama Roy (2001, 2008

and 2010) because the 'outsider' or the 'migrant' is neither a set category chiselled in stone,

nor is it always the result of displacement. These categories are therefore fluid concepts that

are often made and unmade by the laws of the state and the various policy responses.

Section IV: Conclusions

We need to ask the question as to how should the fine line be drawn between the

question of preserving the rights of a community that has been guaranteed by statute and also

through Constitutional provisions on the one hand, and on the other hand, reconciling

questions raised by gender and individual rights? In the case of Meghalaya, that Upadhaya

(2009) believes to be a 'less troubled state in the region'

there is an increased 'turbulence'

since the 1980s in the demands and activities of the Khasi Students' Union and the Federation

of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo People (2009:46). A court ruling permitting non-domicile Indians

to settle in three north-eastern states of Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh without

obtaining a permit created a furore in the region with the affected states saying they would

appeal against the ruling. The Guwahati High Court, responding to a public suit against the

ILP system had barred the government of Mizoram from arresting or deporting any Indian

nationals on the ground that they did not possess the document. In this regard the three state

governments planned to move a division bench of the High Court and even the Supreme

Court to get the verdict overturned.

In Jammu, the opposition to the Daughter's Bill was taken over by the Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP), who sought to play the rhetoric of 'anti-national' and 'anti-Jammu'. Rekha

Chowdhary (2010) shows how the responses actually sidelined the central issue of women

with other issues. The campaign against the Bill was carried out mainly by the forces of the

Hindu right whose major objection to the Bill was that it was 'pro-Kashmir' and 'anti-Jammu'.

Both the BJP and the Bar Association of Jammu were of the view that it was biased against

Jammu and was also 'anti-Hindu.' Similarly Panun Kashmir (our Kashmir), a group repre-

senting the Kashmiri Pandits, also spoke against the bill and argued that 'the government is

making efforts to disfranchise the womenfolk of the state by bringing draconian Bills in the

Assembly'.

Therefore, the opposition to the Bill was being given a communal and a

divisive colour.

Both the Bills, therefore, creates and defines spaces of 'legality' and 'illegality' through

the laying down conditions and procedures for women, making the exercise of differentiated

citizenship rights through the practice of asymmetric federalism impossible. Baruah (2005)

argues that in the case of the Khasis, this attempt to codify the customary practices of the

Khasi drew attention to the 'liberal way' in which the Khasis have traditionally incorporated

the 'outsiders' into their fold. But the cost of implementing the Bill is, as we have already

discussed earlier, the control of women's sexuality in the garb of maintaining 'ethnic purity'.

Therefore, the ethnic 'outsider', and more importantly the woman, becomes the 'ethnic

subject' who is deprived of the right to live a life according to one's own choices, especially

those that relate to marriage and migration. In this case, the promise of citizenship as T.H

Marshall had argued that of `full membership in the community' does not hold.

It may be mentioned that the controversy generated by the Khasi Bill was considera-

ble, but as both Baruah (2005) and Nongbri (2003) suggests, the traditional conception of

Khasi membership is highly progressive, in the sense that while descent is traced through the

female, it does not stop the children of non-Khasi women from being absorbed into the Khasi

society where the adopted names gradually come to be recognized. This would make the

Khasi boundary porous and make the addition of new members 'relatively easy' and transform

the 'denizens' into citizens.

Put in an another manner, the Khasi society is already suspicious

of external infiltration. Though there is a certain degree (that is fast eroding) of economic

empowerment of women this does not coincide with political empowerment. It is seen that

the contemporary process of urbanization and the logic of the 'market' has benefited men,

who have managed to take the maximum advantage of 'modernization'. Customary rules and

procedures do catapult the status of women by tracing the clan and race through women, but

when it comes to political participation in traditional institutions, it reserves the sphere with

utmost severity (Saifun Nessa, 2006: 73-81).

Rajesh Dev (2004) notes instances such as a group of children refusing to hold hands

together during Christmas because the father of the child was a non-Khasi, or the references

made to someone as 'Khariap' indicating his/her status as a dead Khasi, or also the fact that

the Khasi resent the Naga, Mizo and the Manipuri youth because they believe that they are

corrupting the Khasi youths, where all these points towards ethnic exclusivity, and the terrain

on which this conflict unfolds is eventually on the body of the women, who becomes in

Baruah's words, a 'Denizen'.

In both J&K and Meghalaya, it is important to see how the legal understandings of

'gender justice'

have affected women, both in terms of their rights and the definitions of

citizenship. Ratna Kapur (2007: 117-120) says that as far as the legal terrain is concerned, the

concept of gender justice is contingent on location. This may be the family, class, reli-

gious/tribal communities and also the state. Taking up the issue of protectionism and law, she

says that in most cases the role of the law is unproblematically as `protecting' women. In

effect, legalities like the Khasi Bill and the Daughter's Bill that continue to treat women

disadvantageously are accepted as a necessary condition for this protection. The kind of legal

recognition that is informed by this kind of understanding leads to only reinforce the simplis-

tic conceptualization of the discrepancy as 'natural and inevitable.'

To conclude this paper, it might be said that the laws of the state are perceived

differently by communities, and in a multi-ethnic diverse country like India and (especially

the two states that we are concerned with), one law may contradict the practices of some

communities, while at the same time get closer to another community. Gurpreet Mahajan

(1998: 3-4) puts this aptly when she says that cultural rights demanded by the communities

however, has tended to perpetuate the continued subordination of women as a group since

minority rights in cultural matters were conceded before gender equality was achieved. Thus,

preserving the cultural autonomy has often tended to perpetuate this distinction. The catego-

ries of the 'women' and the 'migrant' become similar in many respects, where both are

subjected to the notions of 'legality' and 'illegality', 'inclusion' and 'exclusion' and discrimina-

tion by the state and the community. Both of them occupy at best a 'residual' domain of

citizenship.

End Notes

1. I am thankful to Professor Balveer Arora, (former Prof. of Political Science at Centre

for Political Studies, JNU) currently Chairman, Centre for Multilevel Federalism, In-

stitute of Social Science, New Delhi and Dr. Anupama Roy, Associate Professor,

Centre For Political Studies, School of Social Sciences, JNU, for their kind help in the

formulation of the paper. However, all errors are my own.

2. For an analysis on the manner of these arrangements in the Indian Constitution see

Rodrigues, Valerian.2005. 'Citizenship and the Indian Constitution.' in Rajeev Bhar-

gava and Helmut Reifeld (Eds.), Civil Society, Public Sphere and Citizenship: Dia-

logues and Perceptions. Sage Publications, New Delhi.

3. For an excellent analysis on issues in Indian federalism see Arora, Balveer and Douglas

V. Verney Eds. (1995) and also Arora, Balveer and Nirmal Mukharji Eds. (1992). For

the various debates and issues regarding citizenship see Baruah, Sanjib (2005). Ba-

ruah, Sanjib Ed. (2009). Fernandes, Walter, Melville Pereira and Vizalenu Khatso

(2005), Hoffman, John (2004), Holston, James (2008), Jodhka, Surinder S. (2001)

Kymlicka, Will (1995), Lister, Ruth (2003) Majeed, Akhtar. Ed. (2009), Roy,

Anupama (2005), Roy, Anupama. (2008, 2010), Yuval-Davis and Werbner (1999),

and Samaddar, Ranabir. Ed. (2005).

4. For more details see Jaising, Indira. 2004. 'Gender Justice and the Supreme Court.' in

B.N Kripal, et al. Supreme but Not Infallible: Essays in Honour of the Supreme Court

of India. (Paperback Edition.) Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

5. The history of the Scheduled Areas goes back to the mid-1800s when the British colo-

nial administration designated certain areas as non-regulated areas that were codified

into the 1874 Scheduled Districts Act. The name was changed to 'excluded areas' with

some areas being designated as 'partially excluded areas.' The North-West Frontier

and the North-East Frontier were among the prominent excluded areas in the British

administration. For a preliminary discussion see Baruah, Sanjib, 2009, 'Northwest by

Northeast: A Tale of Two Frontiers'.

http:// www .opendemocracy.net/ arti-

cle/email/northwest-by-northeast-a-tale-of-two-frontiers

Date of Access Feb 26

2012

and also Bodhisattva Kar, 2009. `When was the Postcolonial? A History of Policing

Impossible Lines.' in Sanjib Baruah (Ed.)

6. A brief discussion of ethnic pluralism in a liberal democracy can be found in Akhtar

Majeed (2001:47-70). He says that to accept cultural pluralism is also to accept the

existence of liberal democracy. He puts forward the idea that plural groups need not

necessarily be seen as a threat to the integration of a nation, but if not accommodated

(emphasis added) into the political system it may emerge as a threat. This view is also

similar to the `accommodation principle' that was sought to be conceived through the

implementation of the provisions of the Sixth Schedule.

7. Gopinath Bordoloi was appointed its Chairman and was entrusted with the task of rec-

ommending the provisions for administering these areas. Other members included

J.J.M Nichols Roy, Rupnath Brahma and A.V Thakkar. See B. Shiva Rao, Framing of

India's Constitution, Vol. 3, (New Delhi: Indian Institute of Public Administration),

1967, p. 684. Also see 'Framing of the Sixth Schedule' at

http:// www.

khadc.nic.in/misc/Framing%20of%20the%206th%20SChedule.pdf

Date of Access 1

Jan 2012.

8. Land alienation among the tribals has plagued the North East with issues arising from

inter-community territorial disputes, which has sometimes led to severe violence in

the area. Drawing from the Guahati based Eastern Press Service, Bhaumik (2009:62)

notes that in a period of 30 years (1980-2008) there were 197 counts of 'mass killings'

where more than 30 people lost their lives in a single incident. The number of deaths

was the highest in Nellie (central Assam) where approximately 1,800 people were

killed as a result of violence. Specifying these incidents, Bhaumik notes that in June

1980 around 300 Bengali Hindu settlers were killed in Mandai. In February 1983

more than 2,000 Bengali Muslims were 'massacred' in Nellie. The Naga-Kuki conflict

killed 78 in February 1993. Thus, armed struggles by the Bodos, Assamese, Lalungs,

Mishings, Tripuris, Karbis,Dimasas, Nagas and Kukis, with issues primarily rooted in

land and 'identity' has been a constant source of tension and violence in the North

East.

9. For instance, Louisie Tillin argues that cultural factors had never been the main reason

for asymmetric arrangements in Jammu in Kashmir. For more details see Tillin,

Lousie. 2007. 'United in Diversity? Asymmetry in Indian Federalism.' Publius: The

Journal of Federalism, Volume 37. No. 1 2007. Downloaded from SSRN:

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1455576 or doi:10.1093/publius/pjl017. Date of Access 21st

October 2009.

10. For a brief but excellent discussion of the historical roots of the 'Inner Line' in British

colonial administration and outlook and the post-independent incarnation see Bodhi-

sattva Kar, 2009. `When was the Postcolonial? A History of Policing Impossible

Lines.' in Sanjib Baruah (Ed.) Kar (2009:52) says that in the British imagination the

Inner line excluded in a territorial manner, both the impact of `capital' and also the

`historical pace of development and progress' where it provided a `slip' between the

conflicting worlds of `capital and pre-capital' seen in terms of the `modern and the

primitive'. Kar holds that the current policy literature on the North East is focused on

the much publicized `Look East' programme of the Government of India, which was

created during the `liberalization' of the 1990s which calls for deeper trade commerce

and `integration' among the Association for South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and

India. Kar draws uncanny resemblances between this `modern' policy and the British

imagination in colonial times, thereby his question, `When was the post-colonial?'

11. The Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation 1873, and the Chin Hill Regulations 1896,

provide special protection and safeguard for the peaceful existence of the indigenous

tribal people of Arunachal Pradesh. These laws prohibit the entry of outsiders in the

tribal area without 'Inner Line Permit'. It is also seen that only the indigenous tribal

people are allowed to participate in the democratic process in the state. URL:

http:

//indiacode. nic. in/coiweb/amend/amend83.htm

, Accessed on 24

Nov 2009

12. Apart from the Khasis, issues arising out of marriage and land alienation have plagued

not only the tribal areas of the North East, but also other tribal belts of India. Virgini-

us Xaxa (2007:188-189) drawing from the work of K.S Singh (1988) notes that

among the Hos of Singhbum, tribal women are accused of 'aligning' with the dikus

(outsiders) and as co-conspirators in land transfer from tribals to non-tribals. After

such transfers are complete, it is seen that in most cases the non- tribal men desert

their tribal wives. Xaxa says that this is also one of the reasons why there is 'indigna-

tion' against tribal woman marrying 'outsiders'.

13. For more details see Arun Kumar (2006:203-217) for Andhra Pradesh, and Kripa

Shanker (2006:169-181) for Uttar Pradesh in Govinda C. Rath. 2006 (Ed.)

14. Upadhyay (2009:46) also notes the 'active militant groups' in the state comprising of

the Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC), the Hynniewtrep National Liberation

Council (HNLC) and the People's National Liberation Front of Meghalaya (PLFM).

15. URL:

http://www.thenorthlines.com/newsdet.aspx?q=30074

Date of Access 31

May

2011

16. Baruah (2005:208) uses the term `denizens' to describe the power of 'denization' that

British monarchs had to grant aliens some of the privileges of the natural born sub-

jects. He argues that 'denizens' could buy land but could not inherit it.

17. For a discussion see Anne Marie Goetz, `Gender Justice, Citizenship and Entitle-

ments: Core Concepts, Central Debates and New Directions for Research', in Mukho-

padhyay and Singh 2007. (Eds.) Gender Justice, Citizenship and Development.

Zubaan (Kail for Women) and IDRC, New Delhi. Page 19-26.

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Changing of the Spelling: `Umbilicalis' to `Umbrella'--A Study

of Select Literary Pieces in the Light of Conversion by Dalits in

India

Chirag Trivedi

In the summer of 1981, the Indian Express reported on an incident that was to spark a

nationwide debate: one hundred and eighty formerly untouchable families in the state of

Tamilnadu converted to Islam. When hundreds of dalits in Meenakshipuram which is a small

hamlet in Tirunelveli district converted to Islam in 1981, it surprised the nation. The converts

were almost exclusively of the Pallarjati, who constitute the majority of untouchables in this

district. The majority of non-Brahmin caste Hindus were of the Thevarjati, mostly agricultur-

al laborers and roughly equivalent to the Pallars in terms of economic status. Despite this

economic parity, or likely because of it, there was a history of antagonism between the two

groups. The untouchables were made, for example, to remove their shoes and dismount from

bicycles when traveling through Thevar villages. They were also not allowed to draw water

from public sources and frequently complained of prejudice at the hands of the police (who

were frequently Thevars). Abdul Mujahid an American Muslim religious leader and an

inter-faith activist, in this regards, notes,"All the instances of collective atrocities investigated

by the commissioner have one thing in common: assertiveness and the resistance of untouch-

able individuals and communities against wrongs done to them." This results, I think, in a

two-fold problem for untouchables: Not only does the assertion of their rights often result in

violent reaction among caste Hindus but the legal apparatus that they must resort to is often in

the hands of the very communities that they are seeking protection from. Whenever untouch-

ables assert their rights, they not only have to confront the dominant caste but most of the

time they have to face the local government apparatus as well.

Although the mass conversion in Meenakshipuram was reported in the news as a strange and

sudden event, new converts reported that they had actually considered converting as a

community three times before. So what was so pressing in 1981? Mujahid comments, "But

there also had been a history of untouchables' assertiveness; of Thevars' oppressive treat-

ment, and of conflict in which the police supported the Thevars. The murder of two Thevars

in December 1980 (two months before the conversion) brought a new wave of police torture

and harassment for the untouchables of the village. This situation caused the untouchables to

adopt a collective strategy. Their exposure to Islam was mainly through social contact with

the Muslims of the area, who had been a political power in this electoral constituency for at

least forty years. This conversion came as a collective decision of converts, albeit in three

installments."

In the backdrop of this incident Ramnath Chavhan an acclaimed Marathi playwright writes

this drama titled as Sakshipuram a narrative at the moment of conviction en masse to

dissent. It is a very simple text of drama with twelve scenes, no protagonist, plain language

and absolute absence of dramatic devices. The text, with its utmost honesty in depiction for

the context, lives up to its title, `Sakshipuram' in a sense that it presents, in a candid and

neutral tone of a witness, an account of social undercurrents that lead one to take a plight of a

kite in search of new skies when the soil that it wants to remain knotted with keeps disown-

ing.

The text confirms that the second generation Dalit writers do not only provide depiction of a

social situation but go beyond and provide delineation of social reality. It demands courage,

for scripting and staging a play with a theme of mass conversion that too from Hindutva to

Islam in India, and much more than just courage, for those who actually converted. Therefore

my first attempt is to understand the psyche that develops and moves towards conversion.

Socio-political milieu that has provided platform to religious conversion can be comprehend-

ed in theories like emergence of a new religious power, religion of sword, religion of patron-

age, conspiracy theory like `Petro dollar' and `gulf money', which especially is cited in case

of conversion to Islam to the final theory that social critic Eaton outlines, in his book, "The

Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier", the "social liberation thesis" which I will spend more

time on since it appears particularly relevant in this case. Eaton summarizes that: `'The

theory postulates a Hindu caste system that is unchanging through time and rigidly discrimi-

natory against its own lower orders. For centuries, it is said, the latter suffered under the

crushing burden of oppressive and tyrannical high-caste Hindus, especially Brahmins. Then,

when Islam "arrived" in the Indian subcontinent, carrying its liberating message of social

equality as preached (in most versions of the theory) by Sufi sheikhs, these same oppressed

castes, seeking to escape the yoke of Brahmanic oppression and aware of a social equality

hitherto denied them,"converted" to Islam en masse."

Eaton critiques this theory on the basis that there was no innate notion of fundamental

equality of all human kind denied them by an oppressive Brahminical tyranny. Muslims of

the premodern period saw their distinction from Hindus as monotheism versus polytheism,

not social equality versus inequality. He goes on to say that, "In fact, the idea that Islam

fosters social equality (as opposed to religious equality) seems to be a recent notion, dating

only from the period of the Enlightenment, and more particularly from the legacy of the

French Revolution among nineteenth-century Muslim reformers."

From the Muslim perspective, Meenakshipuram is the logical outcome of an oppressive caste

system. From the Christian one, it is an opportunity for self-critique: Why did they convert to

Islam instead of Christianity? Inevitably, the answer is that Indian Christians maintain an

immoral caste consciousness that must be shed. For the Hindu revivalists, interpreting

conversion as a desire for social equality inspires self-critique as well: The caste-system has

broken down and unless it is fixed the country will be split apart by sectarian conflict. These

three perspectives together weave a fabric that justifies Gurcharan Das's comment in the

Prelude of his monumental treatise, titled, `The difficulty of being good' on the subtle art of

Dharma. He observes, "Moral failure always pervaded our public life and hung over it like

smog."

Claims were made, quoting the messiah Dr. Ambedkar, why the suppressed in Meenakshipu-

ram did not consider Buddhism. Well, for Ambedkar, his twenty year long threat to convert

to Buddhism was part of a search for alternative conceptions of nation and community that

resist being encompassed by preexisting, received forms of the state and its apparatuses.

Gujarati thinker Gunvant Shah notes, "His primary objective was to demonstrate that modern

secularism was essentially a Universalist world-view stalling the process of enfranchise-

ment."

When Ambedkar finally converted to Buddhism in 1956, most Hindus breathed a sigh of

relief, because in their view Buddhism did not put forth a threat or a challenge to the concept

of a predominantly Hindu India, which Islam or Christianity certainly did. For most Indians,

Buddhism was simply a sub sect of Hinduism and the "neo-Buddhists" were unable to

maintain an identity of difference. Certainly, the residents of Meenakshipuram were no doubt

aware that Ambedkar's mass conversion movement did not have the outcome that he desired.

Their social status underwent little or no change. The Pallars of Meenakshipuram were aware

of Ambedkar's conversion movement and frequently referred to him in their testimonies as

an inspiration. They also rejected conversion to Buddhism as an option, most often citing

ignorance of its customs and beliefs. I suspect, however, that underneath this claim is another

assertion that Buddhism is simply another kind of Hinduism (It is a hearsay that even the

RSS praises Buddhism as an excellent choice for those untouchables who wish to convert).

Why Islam, then? Let us seek the answer to this question from the text, and not just the

context.

Ramnath Chavhan puts this sensitive matter in a relatively constrained genre of a drama.

Does he purposefully not sketch a protagonist among many in search of the self? The play

opens with a heart rending scene in which a Dalit is not allowed to burn his son's body in the

burning ground that belonged to them once upon a time. After ten minutes of which, his

daughter is raped, killed and buried in the same ground, though, presenting one's understand-

ing of humanity with a challenge.

The play delves deep into the sentimental layers of `the psyche of the marginalized'. It is the

refusal to almost all available water resources that the Dalits find no way but to seek favour

from the Muslim cohabitants of the village. A character called Yallappa says, `Ab Gaanv me

hamein koi paani bhi nahi dega. Pyas lage tab kya ret pet me thusenge?'(If they would not

let us have water even in the village, when thirsty, shall we stuff sand down our throats?"

Ironically quenching of their thirst by the help of Muslims of the village makes the Brahmins

go even more thirsty of their blood. Along with the main plot that encompasses various

sufferings that force the oppressed characters in the play to convert into Islam, there is

interestingly a sub plot of a love story of a Dalit boy and a Savarna girl. We get to witness, as

by the title it is called, `in the dwelling of witnessing Sakshipuram', episodes like severe

inflictions laid upon the innocent Dalits by the police, discrimination to the extent of keeping

differentiated cups at the Tea stall, grisly act of killing of a Brahmin leader who supports the

Dalits and arresting Dalit innocents for that crime, refusal by the police inspector to register

complaints by Dalits and not allowing the deprived ones to witness, from distance, the

religious ceremonies or even a glance of the God. The play ends with the young married

inter-cast couple's conversion to Islam for safety; with other Dalits having got convinced that

taking up Islam is certainly a more promising way of life; and with musical Triveni Sangam

of Azaan, Omkar and Buddham Sharnam Gachchami in the background.

The reason why this play has been so much relevant till the date is the fact that the dramatist

has vocally expressed what Rabindranath Tagore also tried to state while making out a case

based on the restitution of historical wrongs,

"O my unfortunate country

Those whom you humiliated,

In humiliation you will have to be

Equal to all of them."

And this is the very point I attempt to make through this paper. Till the date Dalits keep

converting to Islam or Christianity in India. It is not the act of conversion but the pain that

one does witness rather undergoes, for this act of outwitting. And more piercingly, the voices

about and for conversion, in Dalit literature all over India, are turning to newer dimensions;

with its hull facing towards the plea for Unity among Minorities. Is it the emergence of a new

subset of bottom of the Indian Social Pyramid? Are we prepared to take it up, take it on and

take it along are the questions at the heart of this paper. Arun Shourie in his book, `Falling

over/against Backwards' concludes saying, "No status, no job, no post, no position, no

concession should be accorded to anyone by virtue of her or his birth, caste, creed, religion or

race." On one hand it is simply affable to agree that none of these should be given to anyone

as an entitlement, on the other hand it is becoming loud and clear, in tune with the title of this

paper: "from umbilicalis to umbrella" that the ones who are oppressed in the name of birth,

caste or religion no more wish to stick to that stigmatic identity, want to break free of the

umbilical cord association and enter a new identity of what we know as an umbrella term,

`the bottom of the pyramid'. Look at this poem by Nirav Patel, who uses the term,

"Bichchdela Bandhavo"

"Tu Mahmadi ho ke Majhabi

Tu Ram ho ke Rahim

Tu Biradari Bandh Bichchdela Bandhavo ni.

Dalit-Vanchit-Pidit-Shoshit

Sau ni pida ek.

Gale malo Peter sau Samdukhiya thi.

Saugand khaine sathi bano

Samta kuch karo,

Sangharsh Karo.

Tame j ghado tamaru navu Bible-navu Quran

Navo Karar: Samta Karar

Nyayi Karar: Asmita Karar"

(Whatever caste or religion you may belong to, get together with all oppressed and destitute

and form a new caste as the sufferings are all the same for all. Embrace all those with the

same pain and take an oath together to march ahead, to rebel and to create your own Bible,

your own new Quran; a new contract that is of equality, a new constitution that is rooted in

ethos.)

In other poetic irony titled as `Main Jihaadi Ban Jaunga', the same poet hauls the cry of a

convert named `SolankiSuleman' aadha Hindu, aadha Musalman, who at the time of

Ayodhya-Babri controversy feels,

"KyaIshwar bacha na saka apne ghar ko Ayodhya me,

Kya Allah bacha saka apne aashiyako Ayodhya me?"

And continues to say,

"Main to sochta tha

Bechara kasai hi roji roti ke liye chaku chalata hai

Are Modibhai, Pandyabhai, Bhattbhai, Patelbhai

Sab `Bade bhai' kya bakhoobi aur bekhauf

Kartab dikhate hai yahan !

. . .

Nahi, ab aur nahi sahajaata 

Na ab na panaahlunga Masjid me, Mandir me

Ab to hardil me Jihaad jagaunga

Deen-e-Insaaniyat Zindabaad !

Deen-e-Insaaniyat Zindabaad !"

(Could God save his temple in Ayodhya? Could Allah do the same? I thought only the

butcher uses knife to earn his livelihood but all these Modibhai, Pandyabhai, Bhattbhai,

Patelbhai all use the knife so efficiently! ...no more inflictions to bear with, I will not find a

refuge in the temple or mosque; I will now ignite rebellion in every heart. May the religion

called humanity live long!)

Bipin Gohil in his Gujarati poem, `Dharmantar', writes not about the rational behind conver-

sion but about what after it, while depicting a scene of death of an old Dalit woman who had

converted to Islam, and then,

"Jivtejiv nikli shaki nahoti je

E gaam vachche ni sheri e thi

Ruaab bher

Thayo eno janajo pasar

Joyo, ketlo fark

Halvo thayo ketlo

Yug juno othaar ..."

(While alive, she never dared walk down those streets in the village, when died, her proces-

sion passed through the same streets with dignity. See, what is the difference? How lighter

the age-old burden has become!)

Let us look at an expression loudly argued upon in folk theatre, asserting conversion. Bhim-

rao Kardak, a Marathi Dalit playwright, in his Tamasha titled `Dharmantar' takes up the

same debate. This Tamasha which is the folk theatre form, was written after Ambedkar had

announced his decision to leave Hinduism in the 1935 "Conversion Speech". The structure of

the play is simple: There is a reformer, called Dadasaahab, who has been present at

Ambedkar's conversion speech, and who thereafter propagates the reasons for conversion.

First he convinces an educated Dalit elder, and then they both travel to a village to win the

support of the local Dalit population for the conversion. There all the Dalits are gathered and

ready to endorse the conversion. Of all the Dalits only one old lady, called Auntie, clings to

the religion of her forefathers and is not ready to let go Hinduism. In the translated dialogue

between the Dadasaahab and Auntie the same argument finds its reasoning:

"Auntie: But I ask you: Where is the necessity of religion? What is religion good for?

I tell you, religion is a means to salvation...

Devotion to God is a means to salvation

Why seek other powers?

Faithfully devote yourself

Praise and adore with love the lotus feet of the Lord

Attain salvation, devote yourself completely to the Lord

Devotion to the Lord is salvation

Dadasaahab: Auntie, the object of religion is deliverance and that deliverance was

perhaps attained by our untouchable saints and ascetics, but the stigma of untouchabil-

ity, that stuck to them, no one ever removed. The devotion of these saints and ascetics

pleased several knowledgeable persons, but no one ever spoke up on the question of

their entering the temple, no one ever cried out. Although they were considered holy,

the temple they couldn't enter. Even if these saints and ascetics took birth in the un-

touchable community, they realized God, or they attained deliverance. But they were

enlightened in the form of untouchables, Shudras, and they remained untouchable till

the end of their life.

Sant Chokamela, Maatang and Raidas were outcastes

They were degraded, but to the Lord they were holy

Why could these devotees of the Lord not enter the temple

Those who have realized the Lord

They were outcast by the orthodox

So why not accept another religion?"

The debate further concludes as,

"Mother, therefore I say: We untouchables can pray to the Hindu gods and goddesses

and fast with any amount of soulful, single-minded devotion. In spite of that, they will

never mind our plight. We can apply vermilion to the idols, do heartfelt worship and

prayer, the stone idols will never feel any pity for us.

Auntie: Dadasaahab, now I understood the truth of your speech. I approve of all what

you say. Now I understood everything. My eyes are opened; I understood all of what

you said."

Finally they are unanimous in their decision to endorse the conversion. Having taken this

sense of acceptance for conversion down their throats, in one of his poems Nirav Patel

presents us with what lies ahead. He writes, `Etle Ranj have vatal no nahi, Punarjanma no

che !' (Conversion has taken care of this birth, god forbid the next one as a minority once

more !)

The quest for a little more dignified remains a tough expedition even in the era of `modern

secularism' in India. The act against untouchability, with severe loopholes in implementation,

results in severe combat between Hindu Dalits versus Dalit Christians especially in case of

lawsuits under Atrocity. Hearsay about RSS's anti-conversion activities and the well known

Ghar Vaapsi scheme, severe penetration of this scheme in the Adivasi areas of Gujarat,

Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, rape of nuns in Jabua and an RSS leader calling it

an act of Nationalism, murder of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, a nationalist icon in

Orissa and the Sangh Pariwar putting the blame on local Dalit Christians, the socio-religious

initiatives like Narmada Samajik Kumbh on the lines of Shabri Kumbh in Dangs of Gujarat,

refusal of implementation of Sachar committee's report by the MP government all these

have been knitting criss-cross a new yarn of a mock-secularist subset in Indian societies

where the Dalits have realized the designs of the political agenda and they allow conversion

more comfortably than to fall prey to political or religio-political social engineering tactics.

In conclusion I wish to express the following reflections Conversion is not so much of a

taboo or a stigma for the Dalits as perceived generally by the society. They have lived a life

time of imposed taboo over their identity, otherwise. Then when they convert, some of them

take to Islam and not Christianity or Buddhism because becoming a part of Islamic communi-

ty gives them a greater sense of security; one gets free from the daily dread of an insult here

or an exploit there. It is also the social behavioural pattern of considering `my enemy's

enemy as my friend'. Organizations like RSS and BMS and undercurrents of BJP and Shiv

Sena require introspection in this light. It is on the part of the so called elites of Indian society

to recognize, and allow the minority unison, unification sentiment; that the bottom of the

social pyramid is not only growing up, making the vertical progress but is also slowly

growing wider, ensuring horizontal expansion. A convert like Jaylakshmi from Meenakshipu-

ram, when asked by the playwright Ramnath Chavhan, `Do not you feel you have lost some

integral part of yourself?', responds, `It was never ours what we have lost; we did not have

anything worth losing, as a matter of fact'. And then goes on to say, "It has come upon us in

curious ways,'' she says, "In some families, father and son converted but not mother and

daughter. So you have boys who are Muslims with sisters who are Hindus. There has been no

change in our cultural interaction, though. After all we remain brothers and sisters and

cousins and uncles and nieces and nephews. How does that change if some of us change our

religion?" While the rest of the country still keeps raising an eyebrow over the mass conver-

sion by Meenakshipuram's Dalits, the priest at the Kaliammam temple says, "Our people

have swiftly put their lives back in order. The very small town in South India today is cited as

a place where many inter-religious marriages have taken place between people belonging to

otherwise religious extremes". Meenakshipuram, as we witness now, has relocated itself at

the horizon, where the earth does meet and not only that, becomes one with the sky.

Finally, a borrowed epilogue to the paper,

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with

reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood." - From

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, First Article, UNO, 1948.

References:

Chavhan, Ramnath. Sakshipuram. Vidya Vihar, 1991. Hindi translation from Marathi by

S. N. Ransubhe.

Das, Gurcharan. Difficulty of being Good, Subtle Art of Dharma. Penguin Books India,

2009.

Eaton, Richard. The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1740. Berkeley: Univer-

sity of California Press, 1993: 115.

Gohil, Bipin. Gujarati Dalit Kavita. Gujarat Dalit Sahitya Akademi, 2005.

Kardak, Bhimrao. Dharmantar. In Dalit Rangamanc. Kamlakar Gangavne, Triyambak

Mahajan (eds.), Jaykrishna Agraval, Krishna brothers, Ajmer 1986. p. 28-53.

Mujahid, Abdul Malik. Conversion to Islam: Untouchables' Strategy for Protest in In-

dia. Chambersburg: Anima Publications, 1989: 94.

Patel, Nirav. Bahishkrit Phoolo. Gujarat Dalit Sahitya Akademi, 2006.

Patel, Nirav. Gujarati Dalit Kavita. Sahitya Akademi, 2010.

Shah, Gunvant. Eeshwar Alla Tere Nam. R. R. Sheth& Co. Mumbai, 2002.

Shah, Gunvant. Secular Murabbo. R. R. Sheth & Co. Mumbai, 2009.

Shourie, Arun. Falling over/against Backwards. ASA Publications, 2006. p. 349.

Details

Pages
Type of Edition: Erstausgabe
Year: 2014
ISBN (eBook): 9783954897407
ISBN (Softcover): 9783954892402
File size: 1.5 MB
Language: English
Publication date: 2014 (April)
Keywords: Film and Media studies Gender studies Sociology Cultural & Literary Studies Subaltern Studies

Author

Kaustav Chakraborty (Author)

Deconstructing the Stereotype: Reconsidering Indian Culture, Literature and Cinema

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Author

Kaustav Chakraborty (Author)