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TULSI-PRAJNA suffer as members of the attacked community, but they also suffer as women.
The simplistic explanation of this phenomenon may be that women are half of the population and constitute the largest section of practising believers. They are crucial to the economics of religious practices. Vested interests keep them ignorant and under subjection, thereby ensuring a dependable clientie. At another level fundamentalism ties up with the women's question because it is essentially a political motivated power game. Under the garb of protecting women and tradition, it exploits them in order to achieve its political and economic objectives. In fact the real villain behind all the problem is the unbridled materialism that has taken charge of us. It is, therefore, of little relevance what religious colour one wears because fundamentalism is another banner for an entry into the power game. The electoral politics-nomination of the candidates, compaigning, cammunal representation etc.-accentuated the process of communalism almost everywhere in India. It is here that the debate on communalism and religious revivalism links up with the question of women's issues. References : 1. Bipan Chandra - India's Struggle for Independence, New Delhi ;
Penguin, 1989, pp. 398-99. 2. Rama Ahuja, Social Problems in India, Jaipur : Rawat Publications, 1992, p. 105.
- Assistant Professor Dept. of Non-violence and Peace Research, JVBI, Ladaun.
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