Economic &Political WEEKLY South Asian Women's Communal Identities Author(s): Anne Hardgrove Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 30, No. 39 (Sep. 30, 1995), pp. 2427+2429-2430 Published by: Economic and Political Weekly Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4403269 Accessed: 12/07/2011 16:17 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=epw. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Economic and Political Weekly is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Economic and Political Weekly. STOR ® http://www.jstor.org
PERSPECTIVES South Asian Women's Communal Identities Anne Hardgrove abducted women were then subsequently 'rescued' by the state and repatriated to the 'right' side of the border is very significant, and I ominously suggest that in oral history projects we may be making a similar methodological move. Devastating communal riots in the fall of 1946 led to an important resolution in the Indian National Congress in late November 1946. The gist of this bill stated that "Women who have been abducted and forcibly married must be restored to their homes". The important point about this legislation is that it did not take into consideration the desires and wishes of the women themselves, and allow them much say in their own destinies. Some women felt settled and did not want to go back, for fear of what would happen. As one woman put it, "I have already been married once. Should I be forced to marry again?" Following independence, on December 6, 1947, the governments of India and Pakistan passed a formal Abducted Persons Bill and agreed to set up co-operative recovery operations. As Veena Das contends, the recovery of women and children to their `rightful' community became a point of national honour which held great importance. On December 15, 1949, the constituent assembly of India announced that 12,000 women had been recovered in India, and 6.000 in Pakistan. I would like to note that the repatriation project is still by no means complete. Even in the 1990s, there are reports of women still living in the refugee camps, either because they were not claimed by their families or else because they find it impossible or refuse to choose a 'home'. In one sense