Women's Activism and the Vicissitudes of Hindu Nationalism

This article explores why Hindu nationalism gives expression to relatively extensive, militant women's activism. Why, to put the question starkly, should larger numbers of women pour onto the streets to destroy a sixteenth-century mosque than to protest their victimization as women? If we reject the assumption that these women were duped, then we must examine what Hindu nationalists had to offer them. The first part of this article asks whether Hindu women's activism can be attributed to the peculiarities of communalism, and, in particular, the traits that distinguish it from fundamentalism. Whereas a central feature of fundamentalism is the attempt to restore women to traditional roles, a key facet of communalism is its political expediency, which may include support for certain women's rights. The second half of the article points to the affinities between communalism and fundamentalism. Both may be shaped by the prevailing political context and electoral considerations, and both are varieties of religious nationalism which depend upon stigmatizing certain communities in order to unify others. Furthermore, women's activism does not challenge patriarchal domination or foster women's empowerment in either communalism or fundamentalism.