Gender and Politics

Women’s Struggle: A History of the All India Women’s Conference 1927-2002  by Aparna Basu and Bharati Ray; Manohar, Delhi, 2003; Second Edition, pp 172 + Appendices, Rs 550

The attempts by the activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Hindu Jagran Manch of Kotdwar, a town in Uttaranchal, to forcefully stop Hindu women from visiting Muslim male tailors illustrate the inclination of the Hindu communalists to propagate the image of the sexually charged, lustful Muslim male, violating the pure body of the Hindu woman. The VHP is trying to operate in both the private and the public domain, attempting to monopolise the field of everyday representation.