CC_India

we met one girl who is a school dropout. When asked
why she did not continue after class nine, she said my
parent could not afford to send me. Probed further, she
revealed that since her parents are very active in the
protest, she has to take charge of household chores. Her
younger brother who is also actively involved and was
demonstrating at Balitutha said,” she stays backs and
cooks for us. When we come back home if food is not
ready then I would beat her up.”
Evidently gender relation within the family have not
changed. If a younger brother can demand and also
believes that he has the right to reprimand his elder
sister if she is not performing her gendered duties, it is
clear that men have the same attitude. Once during the
visit as we were called by one of the households to have
lunch, all men sat around on charpoy, and the women
who had cooked served the food. Domestic violence is
not seen as abnormal whereas the state violence is visibly
seen as very brutal. “Sometimes when men drink and
get drunk they lose sense and beat us” said a woman.
No shops were visible within these villages, according to
women also there is no liquor shop. But sometimes men
do go out and drink to release tension.
Evidently, in the hierarchy of violence state brutality
makes insignificant the prevalence of domestic violence.
“If our husband beat us sometimes, it is not
violence. But if the husband is displaced and gets
compensation or a job and starts to drink and then
beat us, that is an act of violence. Even if we are
beaten up by our husbands, it is okay, as long as
we are together in this struggle.” — Baidhei
In the end what needs to be reiterated are women’s
own definitions of issues such as security and peace on
one hand and corruption and the use of violence by the
state and the non state actors. It is no surprise that
their notion of peace is when they can cultivate their
lands on their own by working hard on it, having the
freedom to cultivate their land and ensure the safety
of their land and livelihood. It is about the absence of
police presence in their villages. Similarly they have a
homespun wisdom of what corruption is and how it
has worked against their interest. With humour they
describe the greed of the politicians and the bureaucrats
by telling us how their stomachs are big which
need a lot of food, By satirically juxtaposing their own
flat stomachs with that of the over fed politicians, they
remind us of class difference. Throughout, their sharing
of their stories of struggle women displayed an air of
irreverence, subversion, rebellion, drama and humour,
traits which are quintessentially feminist.
UNEQUAL CITIZENS: Women’s Narratives of Resistance, Militarisation, Corruption and Security
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