Dialoguing Democracy: Questions on Citizenship and Nationality with Special Reference to Women’s Voices from Kashmir and Shaheen Bagh”

Abstract

A fusion of new law making and exclusionist ideologies propagated by the ruling government in India, in the contemporary scenario, are turning the country into an abject land by splitting the people and states on communal lines. Majoritarianism is taking lead in the democratic country spinning vast number of minorities into stateless beings. The implications are so profound that one has to take steps in reviewing, analysing and re- searching the historical and political documents. Apart from inclusive polities exclusionary steps have been started by the nation which has already invited stronger critical dialogues and engagements by academicians, students and publics-both men and women- from within and outside. Literary, socio-political and cultural spectrum have been articulating this new and brutal ways of expulsion as a challenge to sovereignty and the democratic principles. Women’s resistance moves against CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), NPR (National Population Register) and NRC (National Register of Citizens) have been recorded in the history of India as one of the strongest voices of democracy just like Kashmiri women’s slogans for dignity and democratic space. This article is trying to explore these women’s voices of democracy with special focus on the pattern of resistance by women from the geo political locale of Kashmir and Shaheen Bagh of Delhi