Reflections of Resistance

Great article! All too often I am in danger of forgetting that South Asia is home to a lot more people than the Indians and the Pakistanis. Thanks for reminding me, especially in this way. What I particularly appreciate about women`s movements on the subcontinent is the fact that they never forget (most of them anyway) that they are grassroots movements and every national gain needs to be channeled back to their basic units.

Good piece.

It should be noted however that most of the women movements here are associated with progressive agendas and platforms.

Also, what linkages did these groups make with orgs within and outside of the subcontinent?

Naveen:

This is indeed a detailed perspective, and I was particularly enlightened and emboldened by the Sinhala movement.

In India, even pre-Independence, there were many women who were frontrunners in the struggle - as underground operators, in the INA, in literature of revolt.

Re. victimhood, it isn`t that the women want to be labelled as such. In a situation where the disparities are so great, one group is the disadvantaged. Yet, even today, yu will see rural women and those in the slums in urban areas going about their work, supporting kids and giving a social structure to the family unit.

These are not victims, but society does have a respo0nsibility towards them. And since ur societies are traditionally patriarchal, then it is the men who clearly have to own up responsibility.

I am glad you ended by saying that women must resist both the `sacred` and the `secular`. However, I maintain that every society has different compulsions and feminsitic resistance will really have to work within those parameters if it wishes to mesh with that society. Therefore, in some instances the sacred may be secular and vice versa.

Regards,
Farzana

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