The Price Paid by Women: Gendered Violence and Subaltern Women depicted in The Other side of Silence by Urvashi Butalia

Abstract

The Indian-Pakistan partition in 1947 witnessed the vulnerability of the women as they were prey to the men's harassment and abuse. Women experienced brutal violence and suffered physically, mentally and emotionally during the traumatic communal riots. Thousands of women were repeatedly abducted, raped, mutilated and publicly humiliated by their male counterparts. Women were forced to commit suicide to protect their families' honour and chastity. The partition was a traumatic and heart-wrenching episode for the women as exploitation, subjugation, and gender inequality was mercilessly inflicted upon them by the males of their families and religious communities. Women's dignity and identity were invisible to the eyes of the males whose bodies they mutilated, violated, impregnated, and tattooed with religious slogans. Women were married to their abductors by male members of their families. As a result, women lived as domestic servants or sex workers. Moreover, women willing to reunite with their families after recovery and enduring psychological trauma were turned down and labelled as contaminated. Eventually, they were outcasted and compelled to stay with their abductors to protect their family's honour. The partition divided India and Pakistan with enmity, bloodshed and destruction. During the separation, women were categorised as 'the other' whose purpose was to endure the sufferings and brutality of masculine politics and perform traditional roles. In religious texts and sermons, women are worshipped as goddesses; on the contrary, they are subjugated and oppressed in a male-dominated society. Urvashi mentioned, ' Men almost instigate violence, but women feel its greatest impact'. Bahri stated that the violence against women during partition was against their individuality, community, family, and nation. Division in 1947 was considered the Indian holocaust, where thousands of women were raped and abducted. This paper discusses the patriarchal nature of society and the traumatic violence experienced by women during the partition. It highlights the inhumane and brutal acts of the men, including the officers who oppressed and objectified women after their 'recovery'. And dwells on projecting the hardships, struggles, plights and resilience of the victimised women who experienced torture and betrayal by their male counterparts. This paper discusses the traumatic events experienced by the subaltern women who failed to raise their voices against the injustices and brutality because they were ashamed and vulnerable. The subaltern women accepted to sacrifice their lives for the community and religion to become martyrs. Gender politics and toxic masculinity led to mayhem, inequality, destruction and inflicted pain and suffering on the women through rape, abduction, and self-immolation, forced marriages in a discriminatory and horrendous way in the patriarchal society during the partition negotiations.