Feminism and equality are wishful ideals, says Indian feminist activist Kamla Bhasin

Kamla Bhasin is a New-Delhi based feminist activist who has championed the cause of gender equality for decades. She works with Sangat – a South Asian Feminist Network – as an adviser; and leads the One Billion Rising campaign to end rape and sexual violence against women in South Asia.

 

Dawn caught up with Ms Bhasin at a recent event at the National Press Club and asked her about the trajectory of women’s movements in India and Pakistan and how the two compare.

Q: How have you seen the women’s movement evolve over time? What has changed?

A: Our agendas are fixed by our societies, so we have been evolving and we’ve been responding to all issues. But because patriarchy keeps changing, our issues keep changing. Feminism is not a particular issue based thing; it’s a perspective, on every issue. Now we have to engage with all kinds of issues, many things that we had never thought about because we never needed to think about them. The nature of the movement is changing and one has to evolve constantly.

Q: Have the tools or the tone of the movement changed? Is it more aggressive or violent?
A: The tools keep changing. Today, social media is becoming a tool for some of us and we are using that to reach out to people.

The women’s movement was never violent; most of us are against violence. Not all though; some women would like, for example, the death penalty for rapists, others are asking for castration. But a large section of feminists is against these things.

In the beginning, we believed we would change the world in an instant. That isn’t happening, so one has become more realistic, recognising newer enemies like capitalist patriarchy, market terrorism – and they are so powerful.

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