The 1947 partition of British India into two independent nations (India and Pakistan) was accompanied by enactments of violence unspeakable in their brutality and horror, leading Mushirul Hasan to label it a “bloody vivisection” (xii). Amongst the several atrocities at the time of partition were those committed specifically against women. Several women were raped, murdered, abducted and forced into marriage. They became the targets of horrific violence and their bodies became the sites over which victory was sought.
Gendered violence has mostly been read as metonymic of the violation of the land. Women’s bodies hold immense significance in an all-male dominated society where the responsibility for the protection of their chastity and honour rests on the shoulders of men. Their sexuality becomes highly problematic particularly at the time of disorder and war because their roles as biological reproducers and transmitters of culture make them highly vulnerable to acts of sexual exploitation by men of the ‘other’ community. In the context of the Partition of India, the unprecedented levels of sexual exploitation against women on both sides of the border testify their role as “objects in male constructions of their own honour” (Das 43). As Ruth Seifert puts it, the female body is “a symbolic representation of the body politic” (62) and rape of women is “the symbolic rape of the body of [the] community” (64). Robbing them of their honour becomes the means through which male power is destabilized, community’s identity is threatened and nation’s pride is defeated. Susan Brownmiller states, “In one act of aggression, the collective spirit of women and of the nation is broken, leaving a reminder long after the troops depart. And if she sur...
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The country of Pakistan has not always oppressed women. The former man in charge of Pakistan professed, “No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a third power stronger than both, that of women (Lamb and Yousafzai 31).” It was not until a general named Zia ul-Haq threw a coup and seized control of the government that women and men’s rights became incomparable under Islamic Law. Zia’s regime did not allow women to play most sports, have access to healthcare, or open a bank account, and, in...
“The United Nations estimates that as many as 5,000 women and girls worldwide were killed last year by family members” (Autumn, 2001). Crimes of ‘honor’ are acts of violence perpetuated typically against women who violate broader cultural standards against sexuality and marriage. When a woman violates the sexual or marital standards within a culture, her actions bring shame and dishonor and in order to eliminate the dishonor within the family, killing is the only way. “Honor killings focus on maintaining the sexual exclusiveness of women” (Barker et al, 1999). In most of the cases, honor killings are mostly present in cultures of the South Asian and Middle Eastern Islamic areas. Sadly, this culture is prevalent in some parts of the Indian society as well. “Offenses leading to ‘honor’ killings include leaving home without permission, rumors about premarital loss of virginity, accusations of flirting, and illegitimate sexual contact. These accusations also do not require the consent of the female in the act. Rape victims, for instance,...
Recently, a horrendous gang rape and murder case in India has caused many people to speak out against sex crimes. A female medical student was beaten with metal rods, raped, and then thrown from a moving bus by four men. In response, many people have called for stricter laws dealing with sexual violence. This has also lead to some focus on the sex trafficking aspect of sexual violence. In an article by the Editorial Board of the New York Times, issues of enforcement were brought to light by explaining that sex trafficking is growing in India because of extreme poverty, “a gender imbalance resulting from sex-selective abortion practices,” and “India’s affluence.” The writers of “Sex Trafficking in India” adequately argue that in order to solve the issue of sex trafficking there needs to be stricter enforcement of existing laws that deal with sex crimes by appealing to their intended audience through statistics, expert testimonies, cause and effect, and descriptive language.
Adding onto the to the dexterous disposals undergone in order to disencumber themselves from female infants shortly after birth, disdain and bigotry leading to death and sex-selective abortion are other ways by which many female children die each year. These circumstances are most predominant in patriarchal social orders in which females are devalued and a predilection for boys is incorporated within the developmental social ideologies. India is undergoing a female genocide. The primary cause as to why this occurrence does not jostle or provoke global advertence is because it is accomplished through abortion in oppose to killing the females post birth. In India, abortion in itself is a completely legal procedure and the latitudinarian a...
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During the Cold War, many regional conflicts occurred and were noted as the significant battles which later led to decolonization. One of the regional conflicts were India and Pakistan fighting for their independence. In 1947, India was released under Great Britain’s control and gained its independence. However, the country was divided between Muslims and Hindus, which share different religions. Muslims wanted church and state to become unified while Hindus wanted a separation of these two establishments. Since these two ethnic groups disagreed, it was difficult to create a new government. Therefore, India was divided into two nations: India for the Hindus and Pakistan for the Muslims. Hindus and Muslims were racing to the border in order to get to their nation state which led to killing 500,000 people due to rioting. Although, Mohandas Gandhi, an Indian National Congressman, wanted to obtain peace between these two religions. Pakistan refused the H...
…….…, “Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide and the Blurring of National Boundaries”. Conference issue of South Asian Review 25.3; 2004.
The decision to grant independence to India was not the logical culmination of errors in policy, neither was it as a consequence of a mass revolution forcing the British out of India, but rather, the decision was undertaken voluntarily. Patrick French argues that: “The British left India because they lost control over crucial areas of the administration, and lacked the will and the financial or military ability to recover that control”.
For women in India, the last century has marked a great amount of progress, but at times it has been as stubborn as all the centuries before it. Women have been expanding their roles in society, at home, and even politics with female Prime Minster Indira Gandhi. Gender roles are ingrained deeply, however, and that is no more apparent than in the current rape epidemic. Specifically the last 40 years have been some of the most promising for Indian women, but they have also seen an 875% increase in rape cases (Park). The answers to why this is happening, and why it is happening now may open up a much deeper issue. The social climate is changing; a power struggle between genders steadies the quantity of violence against women. Meanwhile, their empowerment to speak out and hold a rapist accountable brings it to the attention of the world. A longstanding injustice that has been occurring right bellow the surface for years may have reached its boiling point.
As the Hindu’s in northwest India moved south, the Muslims moved north into Pakistan; millions were displaced, thousands were slaughtered as a result of the riots and the birth of both countries was met with death and destruction. Many believe that Muslims went along with the partition and moved to Pakistan “not because they viewed it, as official Pakistani narrative suggests, as the lan...