Women in postcolonial states
of South Asia
In the independent states of India, Pakistan, and
Bangladesh women have struggled for diverse
rights.
India
In India much feminist effort has been directed at
the state to reform laws. Criminal law relating to
rape was reformed as a consequence of the women’s
movement organizing protests at the inept handling
of the complaint of rape of a woman in police cus-
tody. Laws relating to dowry, sati, and selective
abortion of female fetuses are some of the other
notable achievements of the women’s movement.
However, efforts of women are not only directed
at the state. SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Asso-
ciation) represents the best known example of
grassroots mobilization of women. Ela Bhatt has
been instrumental in organizing self-employed
women and empowering them to generate incomes
and manage available resources (Crowell 2003).
Communal schism in the Indian women’s move-
ment happened after the government capitulated
to the demands of Muslim fundamentalists and
enacted the Muslim Women’s Act 1986 (Agnihotri
and Mazumdar 1995). Muslim women were
divided over the question of maintenance for
divorced Muslim wives and it became difficult for
Hindu women to argue against the measure when
some of the Muslim women demanded it (Agnes
1999).
Pakistan
In Pakistan, women’s organizations were prima-
rily constituted by middle-class women who ori-
ented their work toward improving the conditions
for women from lower socioeconomic strata (Alvi
and Rause 2002). It was in 1980s that the feminist
movement became active in opposing the efforts at
Islamization of some parts of the laws (Weiss 1986,
Kennedy 1988). In 1981 the Women’s Action Forum
was formed and subsequently endorsed by seven
women’s groups (Ahsam 2002). Although started
by professional women, WAF has widened its base
by cooperating with other women’s organizations.
Bangladesh
Women in Bangladesh had to experience the tur-
moil of nationalist struggle first against the British
and then against the state of Pakistan. In the strug-
gle for independence from Pakistan women of
Bangladesh had to bear the indignities of mass rape
by the Pakistani army, yet the new government
south asia 593marginalized them. The nascent feminist move-
ment did not work actively to mobilize support for
them either (Hossain and Hossain 2002). Subse-
quently the feminist movement has directed its
attention to dealing with escalating violence against
women. It has successfully lobbied the government
to enact the Prohibition of Dowry Act, 1980.
However, an effort to modify the Muslim Family
Law Ordinance of 1961 has not produced any
change. This ordinance, enacted in the early days of
Pakistan’s existence, gave Muslim women some
legal protection but in Bangladesh the state has to
juggle the demands of feminists with those of the
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