Possibility and Change for Muslim Women in Rural West Bengal
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London School of Economics and Political Science Weaving Lives from Violence: Possibility and Change for Muslim Women in Rural West Bengal Alexandra Stadlen A thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology of the London School of Economics and Political Science for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2018 DECLARATION I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 99,888 words. 2 ABSTRACT This thesis is about the changing lives of Muslim women living in a not so out of the way place. Though on the geographic margins of India, at the fringes of the state of West Bengal, the Hindu goddess-named village they call home has become increasingly connected. In recent years their verdant, jungle isolation has been stripped away by fresh tarmac, mobile phone signal and the formerly shadowy yet increasingly assertive presence of a global Islamic reformist movement. The lives of a diverse group of women in this village of Tarakhali are drawn together to ask what it is to be a Muslim woman here, at this time. Female personhood is understood as something constructed through the skilful navigation of myriad forms of everyday violence. This deft handling of tension and contradiction gains strength and significance as women experience this moment of incorporation and the accompanying transformations. The fundamental role of Islam in shaping their understandings is explored through charged encounters with the conservative Tablighi Jama’at and the increasingly unpredictable and violent interactions with the supernatural. As conceptual and actual spaces are opening up for women, how they enter the labour market and engage (un)productively with microfinance is explored, as is how they transcend village, gender and social boundaries to become “seen” by local bureaucracies. Finally, the impact of this moment of discord in which some beliefs and experiences clash with others is drawn into focus, as this is how it shapes the way in which these women envisage a future both here on earth, and in the hereafter. 3 For the women of Tarakhali 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Department of Anthropology at the LSE has provided a wonderful, stimulating and supportive environment in which my interest in this subject has unfurled over the past seven years. Thank you to the staff, peers and friends, both past and present, who have made this such an enjoyable and rewarding experience. The writing up of this fieldwork research was also generously supported by the Alfred Gell Studentship for which I am extremely grateful. In particular, I am hugely indebted to my supervisors Laura Bear and Mukulika Banerjee both of whom it has been a pleasure and privilege to work with. Their relentless questions, illuminating insights, kindness, support, humour and continuous encouragement significantly shape what follows and have made this process such a rigorous and enjoyable one. I also want to thank Michael Scott, Lucia Michelutti, Deborah James and Nick Long for their invaluable advice and feedback at various points along my anthropological journey. In India there are many thank yous to make. In Santiniketan, to Sahana Bajpaie and her family, to Mithun Dey, Arkaprava Bose and to Abra Da. In Kolkata, to my mesho and mashi Syamal and Sukla Mitra, Mr, Mrs and Rakhi Basu, AIIS staff and students and to Soma Mitra for friendship and my first visit to Tarakhali. To Kolpona, Bornalidi, Buku and Tuku for all your cooking and care. To all of those in Tarakhali who so willingly shared their lives and experiences with me: the warmth, generosity, humour and strength with which you approached life remains continually inspiring. To Suraj Da, my driver, self-proclaimed protector, and my friend. Above all to my research assistant Kishore who showed natural skill, extraordinary patience and amazing good humour throughout the research process, without you what follows would not have been possible. Thank you to my friends in London, Mumbai, Australia, Cambodia and San Francisco for the love and support you have shown me throughout this PhD and always: you know who you are. Thank you to my writing companion Shiva, the small piece of India that we brought home, and who has kept me company during the long hours of writing in the past 2 years. Thank you to my incredible family. To my two inspirational and loving siblings who have trailblazed this path of writing before me, my brother Toby for encouraging me to find and trust in my own voice, and to my sister Georgie for your amazing friendship, wise guidance and tireless support that spanned the ocean. To my parents who have unfailingly supported me throughout this experience, even making their own foray to the goddess village: your brave choices and inspirational lives have continuously shown me that anything is possible for which I will always be grateful. To my father Jon who has proofread multiple versions of what follows, your searing insight, the generosity with which 5 you devote your time and your resistance to anthropological jargon has made this thesis infinitely better. To my mother Julia, my best friend, your considered advice, your exemplary strength and your encompassing love have been invaluable. Finally, to my husband Will. Of the thousands of words that compose this thesis, these are perhaps the hardest to write, such is the love, support, patience, commitment and enthusiasm with which you joined me on this incredible journey. I am eternally grateful, forever indebted to you and would not have shared it with anyone else. The next adventure is yours. 6 CONTENTS List of Illustrations 8 Glossary 9 Note on Style 11 List of Characters 12 Part One: Women in Tarakhali Chapter One – Introduction i. Introduction 13 ii. Theoretical Orientations and Structure 23 iii. The Goddess Village 46 Chapter Two – Violence and Possibility 62 Part Two: ‘Living Islam’ in a Time of Uncertainty Chapter Three - The Path: Islam and the Tablighi Jama’at 97 Chapter Four - Being Caught: Gender, Temperament and Jinn 125 Part Three: The Spaces of Labour and Politics Chapter Five – “We are poor people, what will we do?” Inside and Outside Labour 151 Chapter Six – Being Seen: Bureaucratic Entanglements and Gendered Politics 178 Part Four: The Future, Here and Hereafter Chapter Seven – “Only Allah Knows”: Death, Dreams and the Afterlife 203 Conclusion 230 Bibliography 237 7 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Map of the village 17 Figure 2: Evening in Tarakhali 22 Figure 3: Map of South 24 Parganas 49 Figure 4: A home 54 Figure 5: Kinship diagrams 61 Figure 6: Maryam 69 Figure 7: Aliya at her dadar frame 90 Figure 8: Reenu in the tea shop 96 Figure 9: The boro masjid as seen from the roadside 99 Figure 10: A man performing namaz in the boro masjid 124 Figure 11: Nura 142 Figure 12: Radhia letting her henna dry 150 Figure 13: Aliya’s daughter-in-law Muniya 152 Figure 14: Malika counting microfinance group contributions 163 Figure 15: Waiting for a microfinance meeting to begin 177 Figure 16: Documents and notices on display in the [REDACTED] onchol office 185 Figure 17: Tarakhali during the monsoon 202 Figure 18: Sara 206 Figure 19: The village 229 Figure 20: Samsia and Sirana 236 8 GLOSSARY adda – conversation / chat amader - our azaan – the call to prayer bazaar – market place bhari – low / heavy begun – aubergine bhai - brother bhalo – good bonti – a cutting blade boro masjid – big mosque burka – a fully covering female garment cha - tea chal – uncooked rice chador – large piece of cloth typically worn by Muslim women daal – lentils dadar – a type of embroidery work didi – sister gach - tree gunnin – an Islamic healer halka – light hadith – sayings or actions attributed to the Prophet hijab – an Islamic head covering holud - turmeric imam – prayer leader of a mosque jahannam - hell jannah – heaven jharu – broom jinn – supernatural being jol - water jonghi – terrorist jonmostan – birth place kacca – earth-built (houses) kada – wet mud kaj – work kharap - bad 9 kosto – suffering / hardship kumro – pumpkin kurta pyjamas – a long tunic and loose trousers lota – water vessel lunghi – a type of sarong worn around the waist by men madrasa – educational institute maulana – Islamic religious scholar meye – girl muri – puffed rice namaz – prayer nani - grandmother niqab – female face covering noshto – rotten or fallen oshanti - disturbance paan – a betel leaf, betel nut and tobacco preparation pap - sin pir – a sufi master or spiritual guide pukka – man-made (houses) or ripe pukur - pond purdah – seclusion, the practice of screening women from men or strangers qazi – arbitrator of Muslim Personal Law in the village Quran – the central Islamic religious book roti – bread sheitan – satan shirk – the sin of practising idolatry or polytheism within Islam shorkar – government tabiz – a protection amulet talaq – divorce tel – oil tenshun - tension 10 NOTE ON STYLE In what follows, I have represented Bengali words as transcriptions as opposed to transliterations. This is in order to capture as closely as possible the nature of vernacular speech. Within Bengali there is no use of capital letters, so I have similarly refrained from using them in my representations.