The Mayawati – Rita Bahuguna fracas can of course be read, and rightly so, as a typical case of a casteist and classist response of frustration with the fact that power is in the hands of the subaltern(s) in UP. There can be nothing but condemnation for the words used by a woman who is in public office and has a political lineage to boot, on the elected reprsenteative and leader of the state of which she is a citizen. It is of course unfortunate that the woman’s house was burnt down by some miscreants after her remarks, but that can be said to be collateral damage. Rita has been roundly condemned by all concerned and the Hindu, in an editorial, has called for Sonia to sack her as UPCC chief.
But added to the fact that Brahminical Patriarchy is showing its colours, there is also the fact that the media is playing it up as a “fight for Dalit Votes (between Cong and BSP)”, as if Mayawati won and became the CM of UP for the fourth time on the Dalit vote alone!
But we need to look at another aspect.
While women are slowly – too slowly, alas – coming into their own in the public sphere in India especially in governance, where we have several women in Cabinet positions, as President (Pratibha PAtil), Chief of the main constituent of the ruling coalition (Sonia GAndhi), some women Chief ministers Shela Dixit and MAyawati – and ex- chief ministers – Vijayaraje Scindia – younger women coming into parliaments and assemblies – Kanimozhi, Priay Dutt, Selja – , and important roles in opposition – Mamata Bannerjee - as in West Bengal, which has had no opposition worth the name for decades…
On the other hand, we see that women in public office, despite their being relatively so few of them, do not get along too well, amybe because solidarity among women is still looked upon with disfavour by our patriarchal society which actually poineered the concept of “divide and rule”. Thus, it is no wonder that the Women’s reservation bill has had such a stormy history, and its future does not appear to be too rosy. Only some have understood the rather nuanced position taken by Sharad Yadav, who asserts strongly the need for reservation/representation for women on the basis of thier caste-class origin, but of course he is damned by the Brahminical media for “blocking the women’s reservation bill”.
But over and above this, the level to which the dicourse among the women themselves has sunk has to be noted and condemned. Not many know that a couple of days ago, the Rajasthan Assembly was thunderstruck by the former CM, Vijaya Raje Scindia’s remarks in reply to criticism by a minister in the present government – she walked up to his seat, and asked how he would feel if she went around claiming that his wife was given to drinking and carousing in the streets every night! The assembly was shocked into silence at her words.
And in Andhra Pradesh, just befor the elections, there have been some very unedifying TV talk shows in which some of the leaders of the women’s wings of political parties – notably the Praja Rajyam and some other prominent women political leaders engaging a free-for-all slanging matches on air, which served to further bring to public disrepute their capacities as leaders and spokespersons for thier parties or thier constituents.
The point to note is that while communal rioters have routinely targeted the bodies of the “other” women for violence and rape, the new trend appears to be get women “leaders” who are already insecure and unsure of their roles in power and governance to attack other women in public office, and even more so if the woman in question is single, darkskinned, and/or belongs to a marginalised group.
It is interesting to note how this major incident has not made it into the blogoshere which has had so much to say about Mayawati’s statutes, her diamonds, her cakes, her clothes …! And Indian feminists and slacktivists have not jumped into the fray with statements, placards, or candle-light protests! Just goes to show how ‘class’ and “caste” will show itself up even in its silences. Let us break the silence, but let us keep our dignity, and that of others as well.
