176

END NOTES

Chapter-I: Introduction

1. The term „Post-Colonial is used to refer to writing after India‟s

Independence. This study focuses on the theme of violence against

women as represented in Post-colonial Indian writing. Almost all the

works studied here are written after the 1960‟s to present times.

2. Oxford English Dictionary. (Oxford: OUP, 2010).

3. While there are numerous references to rape in the Bible, they are

hardly elaborated. These allusions are mere mentions and no

attempts are made to understand the trauma or to explore any

dimensions. More than a crime, rape has been looked upon as a

punishment in the classical allusions. For biblical references see The

Holy Bible. (Wisconsin: The Gideons International, 1961).

4. For references to these incidents in the Greek Classical world refer to

The Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. Lindsay Jones (New York:

Macmillan, 2004) and The Oxford Classical Dictionary (New York:

OUP, 2010).

5. Like the Hebraic and the Hellenic religious traditions, the Indian

cultural tradition too corroborates the use of violence in the man-

woman relationship. Allusions to the incidents are evinced in the

epics such as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas.

6. The debate about capital punishment for the crime of rape dates

back to the ancient times in Indian society. In Manusmriti too, the

177

recommendation of capital punishment or death sentence was

permitted in cases of rapes, albeit selectively see Pg. 190, 191. The

Laws of Manu. In Kautilya‟s Arthashastra in the second century

A.D. too there is the endorsement of capital punishment of rape in

selective cases. Kautilya, Arthashastra Trans. & ed. L.N. Lingarajan,

(New Delhi: Penguin, 1992), 448-49.

7. Psychologists have emphasized that rape victims suffer

psychologically and emotionally for a long period and sometimes all

their life. Greenberg and Ruback have stressed in their study the

personal and intimate violation of the self. Indian psychologist Dr.

Rajat Mitra, who founded the NGO Swancheten too feels that the

rape trauma syndrome (referred to as PTSD) affects the life of

victims for a long time and there is the need to treat it in order to

rehabilitate the victim. Greenberg and Ruback in Julie Alilison and

Lawrence Wrightsman Rape: The Misunderstood Crime, p. 148,

160. Dr. Rajat Mitra, TOI report „Project Hope‟ TOI, New Delhi 22,

May 2011, pg. 18.

8. „Take Back the Night Movement‟ (its website: www.

takebackthenight.org) started in 1976 in Brussels. It aimed at

securing women‟s right to safe space and removing fear of

movement. The inaugural march of 2000 women at the International

Tribunal of Crime Against Women triggered off many protests. In

1978 in Mumbai the march marked the protests against the rape of

a pregnant woman.

9. W.J.T. Mitchell, „Representation‟ in Critical Terms for Literary

Study, eds. Frank Lentricchia and Thomas McLaughlin (Chicago:

178

Univ. of Chicago Press, 1990).

10. Mark Ledbetter, Victims of the Post-Modern Narrative (London:

Macmillan, 1996) 13.

11. This study focuses on the study of man-on-woman rape, though there

are few freak incidents of reversal. Most studies have corroborated

that more than 96% cases are of man-on-woman rape. The proposal

to replace the word „rape‟ with „sexual assault‟ in the IPC is only to

allow justice for victims of child abuse and sodomy. It in no way

makes rape a gender-neutral crime. Cf TOI report, „Can a Woman

Rape a Man?‟ 28, March 2010: 19.

12. See Robert Newman „Self-Consuming Arts and Facts‟ in Theory and

Praxis eds. Prafulla C. Kar, Kailash Baral and Sura Rath (p 145-64)

and Rey Chow, „Gender and Representation‟ in Feminist

Consequences: Theory for the New Century eds. Elisabeth Bronfen

and Misha Kavka (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2001) 38-44.

13. Mark Ledbetter, 1.

14. Wendy Doniger and Brian K. Smith‟s inference about the ancient

Indian society vis-à-vis The Laws of Manu (New Delhi: Penguin

Books, 2000) xxiv intro.

15. Kautilya‟s Arthashastra enlists punishments for sexual offences.

Kautilya, Arthashastra Trans. & ed. L.N. Rangarajan (New Delhi:

Penguin Books, 1992), VIII-XV 446-51.

16. Euphemistic portrayals of violence against women are seen in the

Mahabharata and Ramayana. Various instances of rape and

179

abductions in the epics discussed, ibid p.3. For a comparison of the

Shakuntala narrative in the epic and Kalidasa‟s play Abhigyan

Shakuntalam see Irawati Karve Yuganta: The End of an Epoch

(New Delhi: Disha, 1991).

17. See Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism or The Cultural Logic of Late

Capitalism. (London: Duke Univ. Press, 1991) 1-53.

18. Mark Ledbetter, 6.

19. In American writing the theme of violence was taken up in a muted

form in slave narratives in the nineteenth century. Later, the theme

underwent a radical transformation in the works of Alice Walker,

Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison.

20. The history of the Indian Women‟s movement began with the

mobilization of women against the rape of Mathura, a minor in

police custody. See „Women‟s Organization against Rape in India:

Report of a National Meeting‟ in Women and Violence compiled by

Miranda Davies (New Jersey: Zed Books, 1994) : 60-76 and Mala

Khullar ed. Writing the Women’s Movement: A Reader (New Delhi:

Zubaan, 2005).

21. Deliberations of the National Commission for Women and the Law

Commission have resulted in a series of amendments of rape laws.

22. The inference that male writing takes up the theme of violence

against women in situations where patriarchal honour is threatened is

taken up in Chapter-IV in this study.

23. See Chap-III - The Praxis of Rape in Peace for the analysis of

180

class/caste as the initiators of this crime.

24. Most of the studies mentioned here engage in some specific aspect of

violence against women and the scope of their study is limited. For

details of these works see the bibliography.

25. Rape during War/Conflict is discussed in Chap-IV.

26. Rape during peace is the subject of Chap. III.

181

Chapter-II: The Psycho-Socio Dynamics of Rape or Why Rape

Occurs

1. Claire M. Renzetti, Jeffrey L. Edelson & Raquel Kennedy Bergen,

eds. Sourcebook on Violence Against Women (California: Sage,

2001), 36.

2. Lee Ellis, Theories of Rape: Inquiries into the Causes of Sexual

Aggression (New York: Hemisphere Pub., 1989) 14.

3. Diana Russell, Lee Ellis and Susan Brownmiller are some of the

sociologists who believe that rape is the consequence of a rape –

supportive culture.

4. Susan Brownmiller, Against Our Wills: Men, Women and Rape

(New York: Simon Schuster, 1975) 5.

5. Albert Bandura, Lee Ellis and others believe that societies that

promote hypermasculinity are less likely to be rape-free. Bandura

in Renzetti ed. Sourcebook an Violence Against Women, 140.

6. Michael Kimmel, The Gendered Society (New York: Oxford

University Press, 2004) 52.

7. Rape involves the violation and infringement of right to gender

equality under Article 14 of the Constitution of India; Right to Life

and the Right to live with dignity under Article 21, besides the

violation of Right to Safe Environment free from Sexual

Harassment. It is also the violation of bodily rights biological

Rights to motherhood and human rights. See National Commission

for Women Annual Report 2005: Year of Endeavour (New Delhi:

182

NCW, 2005) 79-81.

8. See for further discussion on the challenges to personhood Francis

Barker, The Tremulous Private Body: Essay’s on Subjection (Ann

Arbor: The Univ. of Michigan Press, 1995) 21-81.

9. Michael Kimmel, The Gendered Society, 21-30.

10. Cited in Diana Russell, Sexual Exploitation (London: Sage, 1984),

56.

11. See Claire M. Renzetti, Jeffrey L. Edelson & Raquel Kennedy

Bergen eds. Sourcebook on Violence Against Women.

12. Rape as a measure to control women‟s choice of partners is an

aspect commented on by various sociologists and anthropologists

such as Julie Allison & Lawrence Wrightsman, Michael Kimmel

etc.

13. Mala Sen, India’s Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi

(New Delhi: Harper Collins, 2003). Elaborate analysis of this work

in Chap-III.

14. Mridula Garg, Kathgulab (Country of Goodbyes) Trans. Manisha

Chaudhary. (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 2003), 48.

15. Renzetti 217.

16. In Julie Allison & Lawrence Wrightsman Rape: The

Misunderstood Crime, 34.

17. Renzetti 217-230.

183

18. Mahasweta Devi “Draupadi”. In Other World: Essays in Cultural

Politics, Ed. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (London: Methuen, 1987)

179-96.

19. In Up Against Foucault: Exploration of Some Tensions Between

Foucault and Feminism ed. Caroline Ramazanoglu (London:

Routledge, 1993), 86.

20. Various studies have emphasized the connection between cultural

endorsements of violence and media violence to incidence of

violent crimes like rape. See, Encyclopedia of Violence Against

Women Vol. I & II ed. Judith Worell: (San Diego: Academic Press,

2001) and Renzetti, ed. Sourcebook on Violence Against Women.

21. Mahasweta Devi “Choli Ke Peeche Kaya Hai”, Breast Stories.

Trans. Gayatri Spivak Chakravorty (Calcutta: Seagull Book, 1997).

Also refer to Appendix-II for a discussion on celluloid

representations of the theme.

22. Suchitra Bhattacharya, Dahan. Trans. Madhu Mitra (New Delhi:

Shristi, 2001).

23. Shashi Deshpande, The Binding Vine, 34-5.

24. Worrel, ed. Encyclopedia of Women and Gender, 709-15 and

Allison, Rape: The Misunderstood Crime, 14-15.

25. The transition from garbed and tacit representations of violence

against women to more overt representations can be seen across

cultures with the rise of women‟s movements.

184

26. For publication details of the above-mentioned works see

bibliography.

27. This is common to war/conflict situations internationally. See

chapter-IV for elaborate analysis.

28. The Binding Vine, 147.

29. Attempts to confine women to a limited space is a strategy of

patriarchal society since times immemorial. For a discussion on

the theme see Kalpana Vishwanath‟s essay “Shame and Control”

(313-33) and Seemanthini Niranjana‟s essay “Femininity, Space

and the Female Body” in Embodiment: Essays on Gender and

Identity ed. Meenakshi Thapan (Delhi: OUP, 1997): 107-124.

30. Lauren Berlant “The Subject of True Feeling”, Feminist

Consequences: Theory for the New Century eds. Elisabeth Bronfen

and Misha Kavka (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2001) 145.

31. Berlant, 145-46.

32. Cited in Women’s Studies in India ed. Malashri Lal and Sukrita

Paul (Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, 2002), 133.

33. „Sabha Parva‟. Ved Vyasa. The Mahabharata. Trans. and ed. J.A.B

Van Buitenan. Chicao: Univ. of (Chicago Press, 1981).

34. Pratibha Ray, Yajnaseni: The Story of Draupadi. Trans. Pradip

Bhattacharya (New Delhi: Rupa & Co., 1995).

35. Claude Levi-Strauss, The Elementary Structures of Kinship. Trans

J.H. Bill and J.R. von Sturmore, ed. Rodney Nedham (London:

185

George Allen & Unwin, 1969).

36. Gayatri Spivak Chakravorty „Can the Subaltern Speak?‟ Marxism

and the Interpretation of Culture. Eds. C. Nelson and L. Grossberg

(Basingstoke, Macmillan: 1988) 271-313.

37. Rey Chow „Gender and Representation‟. Feminist Consequences:

Theory for the New Century, eds. Elisabeth Bronfen & Misha

Kavka (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2011), 44.

186

Chapter-III: The Praxis of Rape in Peace: Some Aspects

1. UNESCO report on violence and its causes cited in Women’s Studies

in India Malashri Lal and Sukrita Paul (Shimla: Institute of

Advanced Studies, 2002) 133.

2. Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, 6-10.

3. See Jyoti Puri Women, Body Desire in Post-Colonial India (New

York: Routledge, 1999) and Meenakshi Thapan, ed. Embodiment:

Essays on Gender and Identity (Delhi: Oxford UP, 1997).

4. A comparative analysis of Indian and American writing reveals that

this theme of violation appeared much earlier in the form of

sentimental novels/diaries as early as the 1860s in America.

Nevertheless, serious engagement with the theme begin in the 1960

& 70s in sync with writing on the theme and women‟s movements

across the world.

5. Greenberg and Ruback quoted in Julie. Allison and Lawrence

Wrightsman. Rape: The Misunderstood Crime, 148.

6. S. Katz cited in J. Allison, 123.

7. Rape ensuing from communal violence/partition / conflict examined

in Chapter IV.

8. Mala Sen, India’s Bandit Queen : The True Story of Phoolan Devi

(1991 (New Delhi: Harper Collins, 2003).

9. Jyoti Puri, 88-97.

187

10. Puri, 98.

11. Gender discrimination through cultural practices deepens the chasm

between genders. This has its impact as increased possibility of

violence against women. See critics Kalpana Vishwanath,

Seemanthini Nranjana etc.

12. Priyamvada Gopal, “Of Victims and Vigilantes” Sinposts: Gender

Issues in Post-Independence India. Ed. Rajeshwari Sunder Rajan

(New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1999) 299.

13. Brenda Longfellow, “Rape and Translation in „Bandit Queen‟”.

Translating Desire, ed. Brinda Bose, 243.

14. Longfellow, 247.

15. See Catherine R. Stimpson, Where the Meanings are : Feminism and

Cultural Spaces (New York & London: Methuen, 1988).

16. Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish : The Birth of the Prison

(Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1979) 138.

17. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, In Other Worlds: Essays in Cultural

Politics (London & N.Y: Methuen, 1987) 179-96.

18. Spivak, Introduction, 167-69.

19. Race and colour are the analogues of caste and class in Afro-

American Writing. In a similar way they are responsible for the

double bind in the lives of the characters in such writing.

20. The divine intervention of Krishna salvages Draupadi‟s honour in

188

the classical epic.

21. Pratibha Ray, Yajnaseni: The Story of Draupadi, 3.

22. Sandra Gilbert & Susan Gubar, The Mad Woman in the Attic: The

Woman Writer & the Ninetenth-Century Literary Imagination (New

Haven: Yale UP, 1979).

23. Bani Basu, “The Fallen Man”. Trans. Nandini Guha Katha Prize

Stories 12. Ed. Geeta Dharmarajan (New Delhi: Katha, 2002) 154-

288.

24. Julie A Allison 2-5.

25. Shashi Deshpande, The Binding Vine (New Delhi: Penguin, 1993).

26. Theories such as the subculture of violence have now been

disproved as statistics prove that rape is committed by diverse

personality types and from a mixed strata of society. See Julie

Allison & Lawrence Wrightman Rape: The Misunderstood Crime

and article “Jump in Number of Offenders, Even From Well-Off

Families” 6, July 2008, The TOI, p.4.

27. Interview with Mridula Garg in Storylines: Conversations with

Women Writers (Delhi: Women‟s World, 2003) 291-309.

28. Mridula Garg, Kathgulab. Trans. Manisha Chaudhary (New Delhi:

Kali for Women, 2003).

29. Michel Foucault, The Uses of Pleasure: The History of Sexuality

Vol. II, Trans. Robert Hurley, 1984 (London: Penguin, 1992), 218-

221.

189

30. Interview with Mridula Garg, Storylines, 299.

31. Mridula Garg, Interview, 299.

32. The Times of India, 21 June 2006.

33. TOI Report, 7 October 2006, p. 29.

34. See TOI Report 21, June 2006.

35. TOI Report, 21 June 2006.

36. Shashi Deshpande, „The Intrusion and Other Stories (New Delhi:

Penguin, 1993) 34-42.

37. Suchitra Bhattacharya „Good Woman Bad Woman‟, Her Stories:

Twentieth Century Bengali Women Writers. Trans. Sanjukta

Dasgupta (New Delhi: Shristi, 2002).

38. The catalytic role of alcohol in violence against women has been

emphasized by numerous psychologists. See Julie Allison and

Lawrence Wrightsman, Rape: The Misunderstood Crime & Renzetti

Sourcebook on Violence Against Women.

39. Cited in Sourebook on Violence Against Women.

40. Suchitra Bhattacharya, Dahan, Trans Madhu Mitra (New Delhi:

Shristi, 2001).

41. Krishna Sobti, Surajmukhi Andherey Ke, Trans Kavita Nagpal

(Delhi: Vikas, 1979).

42. This work clearly shows the traumatic impact of rape on the victim,

190

Ratti through the emphasis on the PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress

Disorder) ensuing from rape.

43. Anupama Niranjana „The Incident – and After‟ Women Writing in

India: Vol. II Eds. Susie Tharu ad K. Lalitha (New Delhi: Oxford

UP, 1993).

44. Jyoti Puri, 75-77.

45. Bhanwari Devi, a Dalit Sathin was raped by upper caste men for her

activism against child marriage. In 2002, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, a

teacher in a Panchayat School was sentenced to a gang-rape by an

elected Panchayat.

46. Ambai „Black Horse Square‟. A Purple Sea: Short Stories by Ambai.

Trans. Lakshmi Holmstrom (New Delhi: Affiliated East-West Press,

1992.

47. The controversy around the Mathura rape case when a minor was

raped in police custody and the ensuing protest form the backdrop

to this short story.

48. Jyoti Puri, 75-102.

49. Anita Desai, Fire on the Mountain (New Delhi: Allied Pub., 1977).

The infiltration of violent ways from imperialist colonizers to the

colonized is discussed by Aijaz Ahmed in “Post-colonialism: What‟s

in a Name?” in Late Imperial Culture, eds. Roman de la Campa, Ann

Kaplan & Michael Sprinker (London: Verso, 1995).

50. Isobel Armstrong, Radical Aesthetics (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000).

191

51. The spatial banishment of the rape victim out of the city (a-polis) is

part of the stigma rape victims face.

52. Rajendra Yadav, ‟Sabse Bada Kahaani Puraskar‟ Hans No. 2 Sept

2004 : 4-10.

53. Ajay Nawaria, „Dhai Aakhar‟, Hans, No. 2 Sept 2004: 52-62.,

Kavita, „Dehdansh‟. Hans No. 2 Sept 2004 : 63-68.

54. Yadav, 8.

55. Shekhar Mallik, „Asvikaar‟. Hans No.2 Sept 2004: 26-32.

56. Sushma Munindra, „It‟s My Life‟, Hans No.2 Sept 2004: 33-40.

Lata Sharma . „Jin Din Dekhe Ve Kusum‟ Hans No.2 Sept 2004: 41-

51. Usha Yadav, „Gangrape‟ Hans No.2 Sept 2004: 77-78.

57. The analogy of appropriation of rights over a woman‟s body and

imperialistic ambitions of developed nations has often been raised.

See Anuradha M. Chenoy‟s article on militarism and glorification of

masculinity “Fauji Mardvaad: Ghar aur Baahar”. Hans No.7 Feb

2004: 27-28.

58. The interrogation of society‟s outlook to the crime of rape is

emphasized by many works examined in this study. However,

Manjula Pandmanabhan‟s play Lights Out specifically focuses on the

social apathy that contributes to this crime (hence this sub-heading).

59. Manjula Padmanabhan, Lights Out in Body Blows: Women, Violence

and Survival: Three Plays (Calcutta: Seagull Books, 2000).

192

60. Of the works examined in this study Pinki Virani‟s, Aruna’s Story:

The True Account of a Rape and its Aftermath (New Delhi: Viking,

1998) is of special significance as it examines rape at the work place

in a non-fictional account.

61. Aruna Shanbaug‟s brain shriveled under the impact of assault in

1973. This confirms the intimidating impact of rape on a woman‟s

brain. Cf. report The Times of India, New Delhi, 28 February 2011.

62. Pinki Virani‟s appeal for mercy-killing was turned down in 2011. Cf.

The Times of India, New Delhi, 28 February 2011.

193

Chapter-IV: The Praxis of Rape in War and Conflict

1. Critics including Veena Das, Ashis Nandy, Urvashi Butalia etc. have

drawn attention to the conflation of women‟s identity with the

nation‟s.

2. See Partha Chatterjee „The Nationalist Resolution of the Women‟s

Question‟ Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial History, eds.

Kumkum Sangari & Sudesh Vaid (New Delhi: Kali for Women,

1989) 233-53.

3. „Gender symbolism‟ is a phrase, aptly used by Rosemary George

„Feminists Theorize Colonial/postcolonial‟, The Cambridge

Companion to Feminist Literary Theory ed. Ellen Rooney

(Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006) 222.

4. Sudhir Kakar, The Colours of Violence (Delhi: Viking, 1995), 175.

5. See Urvashi Butalia, The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the

Partition of India (New Delhi: Penguin, 1998) and Ritu Menon and

Kamla Bhasin Borders and Boundaries (New Delhi: Kali for

Women, 1998).

6. See Rita Manchanda, ed. Women, War and Peace in South Asia

(New Delhi: Sage, 2004).

7. The use of Viagra boosters by Gaddafi‟s forces in Libya suggests

conscious and strategic use of rape in warfare. The Times of India.

New Delhi, 27 April 2011.

8. Cited in Rita Manchanda, 73.

194

9. Jyoti Puri, 94.

10. Sa‟adat Hasan Manto, „Open It‟. For Freedom’s Sake: Selected

Stories and Sketches Intro. Mohammad Asadudin (Karachi: OUP,

2001).

11. Saadat Hasan Manto, „Compassion‟ in Alok Bhalla ed. Stories About

the Partition of India, 97.

12. S.H. Manto „Cold Meat‟. Trans & ed Alok Bhalla Stories About the

Partition of India (New Delhi Indus, 1994) 91-96.

13. Jamila Hashmi, “Exile”. Trans & ed. Alok Bhalla Stories About the

Partition of India (New Delhi: Indus, 1994) 39-53.

14. Amrita Pritam‟s story Pinjar (The Skeleton) written in Punjabi in

1950 contrasts the rejection of women by their community as

against the shelter provided by the other community.

15. Rajinder Singh Bedi, „Lajwanti’ – Trans . & ed. Alok Bhalla. Stories

About the Partition of India (New Delhi: Indus, 1994) 55-66.

16. S.H. Vatsayan Ajneya „Getting Even‟. Trans Alok Rai Ed. Alok

Bhalla Stories About the Partition of India (New Delhi: Indus, 1994)

119-25.

17. Alok Bhalla “Introduction”. Stories About the Partition of India

(New Delhi: Indus, 1994) 22.

18. The paradigmatic shift from descriptive to prescriptive writing i.e.

writing that posits life after rape and reinforces rehabilitative

empowerment seems to make a beginning even in Partition

195

literature.

19. Jyotirmoyee Devi, Epar Ganga Opar Ganga (New Delhi : Kali for

Woman, 1995).

20. Ved Vyasa The Mahabharata Trans. & ed. J.A.B. Van Buitenan.

Chicago. (Chicago UP, 1981). The „Mushal Parva‟ or the „Book of

the Clubs describes the destruction of the Yadavas with clubs

(„musalas‟). The author had in mind the mutual destruction of the

Hindu‟s and Muslims during the Partition.

21. Ram Manohar Lohiya, Rachnavali Vol. 5. Trans. Mast Ram Kapoor

(New-Delhi: Anamika, 2008).

22. Cited in Jasodhara Bagchi, „Introduction‟ Epar Ganga Opar Ganga,

xxxiii.

23. Bhisham Sahni, Tamas. Trans. Jai Ratan (New Delhi: Penguin,

1974).

196

Chapter-V: Inadequacy of Rape Laws: A Literary Perspective

1. Cited in Nivedita Menon, ed. Sexualities: Issues in Contemporary

Indian Feminism (New Delhi: Women Unlimited, 2007) xiv.

2. See „Women‟s Organizations against Rape in India: Report of a

National Meeting‟ Miranda Davies, ed. Women and Violence (New

Jersey: Zed Books, 1994) 60-76.

3. For a discussion of these issues see Nivedita Menon “Embodying the

Self : Feminism, Sexual Violence and the Law” in Brinda Bose, ed.

Translating Desire: The Politics of gender and Culture in India New

Delhi: Katha, 2002) 200-221 and Toril Moi, Sex, Gender and the

Body (Oxford: OUP, 2005).

4. Sharon Marcus, „Fighting Bodies, Fighting Words: A Theory and

Politics of Rape Prevention‟, in Joan Scott & Judith Butler eds.

Feminists Theorise the Political (London & NY: Routledge, 1992)

398-99.

5. Nivedita Menon „Rights, Bodies and the Law: Rethinking Feminist

Politics of Justice in Gender and Politics in India (New Delhi:

Oxford UP, 1999).

6. Diane Scully, „Understanding Sexual Violence‟ : 234.

7. See TOI: report, „Inside A Rapist‟s Mind‟. TOI, New Delhi, 10

January 2006.

8. Diane Scully, „Understanding Sexual Violence‟, 234.

9. Merriam Webster Dictionary. (Massachusetts: Encyclopedia

197

Britannnica, 2002).

10. Seemanthini Niranjana, „Bodily Matrices‟ in Writing the Women’s

Movement A Reader (New Delhi: Zubaan, 2005) 480.

11. Elizabeth Spelman, Inessential Woman: Problems of Exclusion in

Feminist Thought (Boston: Beacon Press; 1988) 30-31; 126-31.

12. The Hindi phrase „izzat lootna‟ suggests that women are treated as

the property of men around them.

13. For a detailed discussion of what rape entails see Chap-II, note 7.

14. Flavia Agnes, Journey to Justice (Mumbai: Majlis, 1990) 9-10.

15. Chapter – XVI, Section 375, Indian Penal Code, 1860.

16. „Modesty‟ and „Consent‟ are issues that are infinitely interpretable

and have contributed to the low conviction rate in rape cases. See an

interesting discussion of the same in „What Women Want‟ The

Times of India 29 July 2011. The attempt to redefine rape laws

includes the redrafting of the IPC, Evidence and Cr. PC. See

National Commission for Women Reports.

17. Judith Worell, ed. Encyclopedia of Women and Gender Vol. II (San

Diego: Academic Press, 2001) 893.

18. Worell, 894.

19. Flavia Agnes „Protecting Women Against Violence?‟ in Economic

and Political Weekly 25 April 1992: 21.

20. The NCRB data shows a 792% increase in rape cases since 1971

198

and the rate of convictions as abysmally low as 27% in 2010. The

Times of India New Delhi, 13 Nov. 2011, p.18.

21. NCRB Crime Clock in The Times of India, New Delhi 1 Sept 2006.

22. NCRB data The Time of India 7 Jan 2007.

23. Most of these cases were publicized and long struggles for justice

followed. However, the Sarita Rani case that took place in May 2008

was unique in many ways. The victim was raped on the premises of

the Central Investigating Agency (CIA) by two policemen –

constable Balraj and Silak Ram. To hush the matter the policemen

offered money and framed the husband to scare the victim. Strangely

enough, Sarita Rani‟s mother had killed herself 24 years earlier to

prevent rape. See report in The Times of India, 10 & 11 June 2008.

24. Carol Smart, „Feminism and The Power of Law’, 302.

25. Smart, 301.

26. See report TOI, New Delhi 3 May 2008.

27. In the Priyadarshini Mattoo case this provision to appeal against the

acquittal of the accused was seen in action and justice was obtained.

28. See National Commission for Women Annual Report (New Delhi:

NCW, 2005) 67-8 & 277-88.

29. NCRB data in TOI report, 17 July, 2003.

30. TOI report, 17 July 2003

199

31. TOI report , 7 November 2004.

32. TOI Report 7 November 2004.

33. TOI report 7 November 2004.

34. In Julie Allison, Rape: The Misunderstood Crime, 85.

35. Allison, 85-86.

36. Allison, 87.

37. Russell cited in Julie Allison and Lawrence Wrightsman, 87-88.

38. See TOI Report 4 Dec 2004 & 21 June 2006.

39. Cited in Julie Allison and Lawrence Wrightsman, 93.

40. Pinki Virani, Aruna’s Story.

41. Shekhar Mallik, „Asvikaar‟.

42. Suchitra Bhattacharya, Dahan.

43. Ambai, ‘Black Horse Square‟.

44. Mridula Garg, Kathgulab.

45. Suchitra Bhattacharya, „Good Woman Bad Woman‟.

46. Bani Basu, The Fallen Man.

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47. Shashi Deshpande,The Binding Vine.

48. Mala Sen, India’s Bandit Queen.

49. Manjula Pandmanabhan, Lights Out.

50. See Report „Insult to Injury: Rape Takes a Steeper Toll on Dalit

Women‟ TOI, New Delhi, 15 Dec. 2009.

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Chapter-VI: Conclusions

1. Mikhail Bakhtin The Dialogic Imagination Trans. Michael Holquist

& Caryl Emerson, (Austin: Univ. of Texas Press, 1981) 15.

2. Lauren Berlant, „The Subject of True Feeling: Pain, Privacy and

Politics, 145.

3. This is observed by Indian writers such as Mridula Garg, Maria

Mies, Urvashi Butalia and others.

4. A drift from descriptive to prescriptive models is observed in the

attempt to understand and represent women‟s sexuality.

5. Joyce Carol Oates and Adrienne Rich were the pioneering voices

who recommended the writing of the woman‟s body in the text. See

Joyce Carol Oates First Person Sigular and Adrienne Rich „Notes

towards a Politics of Location‟.

6. See details in the bibliography.

7. Amongst Western scholars the significant critics who have

commented on the conditioning of women‟s bodies are Simone de

Beauvoir, Luce Irigaray, Diane Scully among others.

8. Veena Das and Ashis Nandy „Violence, Victimhood and the World‟

ed. Veena Das (Delhi: Sage, 1986) 177-97.

9. Susan Brownmiller, Against Our Wills and Katherine O‟ Donovan

„Sexual Divisions in Law‟ 269-76. See note above in Chap. I for

Slutwalk and „Give us Back the Night‟ movement.

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10. George Kimmel and Allan Johnson have explored the connection

between violence against women and levels of discrimination

between genders.

11. See bibliography for details.

12. Partition /Conflict narratives discussed above in Chap. IV.

13. A vestigial proportion of male writing dwells on the theme of

violence against women (sp. rape). In this study except for Shekhar

Malik and Ajay Nawaria‟s short stories, and no other work by a

male writer dwells on the theme in peaceful situations.

14. Adrienne Rich „Notes Towards a Politics of Location‟s in Post-

Colonial Theory: A Reader eds. Reina Lewis and Sara Mills

(Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press, 2003), 31.

15. Rich, 32-35.

16. Mridula Garg, Interview, 308.

17. Sharon Marcus, „Fighting Bodies, Fighting Words‟, 391.

18. Cited in George Kimmel, 279.

19. Established by data and studies mentioned above.

20. Rene Girard, Violence and the Sacred, 218.

21. Malavika Karlekar, Voices From Within and Uma Chakravarti,

Rewriting History; The Life and Times of Pandita Ramabai (New

Delhi: Kali, 1998).

203

22. Critics such as Urvashi Butalia, Veena Das, Ashis Nandy, Ritu

Bhasin, Rita Manchanda have stressed the same.

23. Mridula Garg, Kathgulab.

24. Krishna Sobti, Surajmukhi Andherey Ke.

25. See Appendix-II.

26. Veena Das and Ashis Nandy „Violence, Victimhood and the

Language of Silence, op. cit 177-97.

27. Urvashi Butalia, The Other Side of Silence cites the RSS magazine

The Organizer that metaphorically represented the act of Partition as

violation of the body of the pure Hindu woman i.e. Bharatmata, 139.

28. Veena Das and Ashis Nandy, “Violence Victimhood and the

Language of Silence op. cit.

29. See Chap-III and IV above.

30. See Chap III for a detailed analysis of Jyotirmoyee Devi‟s Epar

Ganga Opar Ganga.

31. This inference is based on the comparison specially of narratives that

deal with rape in peace and in war /conflict.

32. This classification is made on the basis of differing levels of

resistance and rehabilitation issues vis-à-vis rape. Works in the

First-Phase are primarily descriptive, those in the second phase

explore issues related to the crime and delve deeper. Works in the

Third Phase include some radical writing that is prescriptive in

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many ways. Some of the Hans stories will also appear here. EGOG

is a radical work of an earlier period but appears here for its mature

handling of the issues.

33. Mala Sen‟s depiction certainly emphasizes the eviction of Phoolan

from her home and the „polis‟ to the outskirts, and finally her

ultimate rejection followed by incarceration. However, her courage

and determination to carve a niche for herself is seen in her

victorious comeback as a MP.

34. An aspect stressed by Partha Chatterjee, Butalia, Das and Nandy etc.

See above.

35. All these mythological sisters of Sutara were violated and failed to

get justice.

36. The dilemma of women in war/conflict has been contrasted in

Bhisham Sahni‟s Tamas.

37. Critics like Susan Brownmiller, Michelle Barrett, Adrienne Rich,

Veena Das, S. Niranjana, K. Viswanath have commented on the

aspiration of society to control women‟s sexuality and thereby

identity.

38. See Chap IV above.

39. Stasa Zajovic „Women and Ethnic Cleansing‟ cited in Ritu Menon

and Kamla Bhasin Borders and Boundaries (New Delhi : Kali for

Women, 1998), 44.

40. The Laws of Manu, Chap 11 verse 59, 171-3.

205

41. See Appendix-I.

42. Michel Foucault Discipline and Punish (New York: Vintag), 1979),

201. Also see Jana Sawicki „Foucault, feminism and questions of

Identity‟ in The Cambridge Companion to Foucault, ed. Gary

Gutting (New York: Columbia UP, 1994), p. 290.

43. Judith Worrell ed. Encyclopedia of Women and Gender op. cit. See

Appendix IV for view of Psychologists in India on the issue.

44. Mridula Garg, Interview, 300.

45. The Laws of Manu and Kautilya‟s Arthashashtra See Chap. I.

46. Susan Brownmiller, Against Our Wills. See Chap-I.

47. Marge Piercy „Rape Poem‟. Circles on the Water The Selected

Poems of Marge Piercy. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982).

48. See Chap I for a discussion of some myths.

49. Mridula Garg Interview, 291.

50. See Chap-III and IV for a discussion of these works.

51. See Chap-III, IV and V for a discussion of these works.