Women, Veling and Politics : The South Asian Conundrum

Never in the history of human civilization has the veil, hijab or purdah become so much of a contentious issue. At the root of the contention, however, it has always been politics. This volume mainly focuses on South Asia, where the veiling of women has been a part of its age-old civilization, indeed, more as a marker of civility and not always from the standpoint of masculinity. But then in recent times, the territoriality of societies in the name of 'modern state' and the power of both patriarchy and masculinity reinforcing it made the veiling of women, in one form or another, an exercise in patriarchy, masculinity or gender politics, often crisscrossing national, ethnic, racial and religious boundaries, with women as its main victims. This volume attempts to overcome our 'ignorance' in so far as the veil is concerned. Demystifying the politics of veiling can certainly contribute to emancipatory politics in South Asia and beyond. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction by Imtiaz Ahmed Section I Afghanistan Chapter 1 Behind the Veil: How Taliban Rules of Law Still Shroud Contemporary Afghanistan by Anastasia Telesetsky Section II Bangladesh Chapter 2 The Politics of Knowledge and the Veiling of the Veil by Amena Mohsin Chapter 3 Muslim Bodies, Imperial Politics and Feminist Frames by Dina M Siddiqi Section III India Chapter 4 The Politics of Covering and Uncovering in India by Ambar Ahmad Chapter 5 The Painted Veil and its Contours by Dipannita Datta Chapter 6 Food, Faith and Body: ‘Veiling’ and ‘Unveiling’ in the Borderland of West Bengal by Sreeradha Datta and Nandini Bhattacharya Panda Section IV Maldives Chapter 7 Democracy, Veil and Security in the Maldives by Emma Fulu Section V Nepal Chapter 8 Women, Veil and Security in the Nepalese Perspective: The Mist of Stereotypes and Superstition by Shobhakar Budhathoki Section VI Pakistan Chapter 9 ‘Purday kay Peechay Kya Hai?’ The Shifting Contexts of the Politics of Veiling by Saba Gul Khattak Chapter 10 Pukhtun Women, Veil and Security by Nasreen Ghufran Section VI Sri Lanka Chapter 11 Reforming Dress Practices Among the Sri Lankan Muslim Middle Class: A Ten-year Trajectory by Farzana Haniffa