Identity politics, secularism and women:A south Asian perspective

This chapter looks at some aspects of the relation between state structures and ideology, politics of identity and women's rights in South Asia. It examines theoretical issues involved in analysing the relationship between the State, identity politics and women in South Asia. The chapter provides an excursion into history, delineating the ideology of nationalism and the establishment of legal structures which maintained separate identities for Muslims and Hindus, with consequences in the post-independence period. It discusses the implications of these structures with reference only to India, the politics of the period before 1947 form a common legacy for Pakistan and Bangladesh as well. The chapter also examines the dynamics of identity politics in the women's movement, the contradictions in notions of secularism and its implications for women's rights. The creation of both India and Pakistan, inspite of avowals of secularism, was based on an ideological mobilisation which equated the nation with a particular community identity.