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CROSSING THE SECRED LINE: Women's Search for Political Power. By

Abhilasha Kumari and Sabina Kidwai. New Delhi: Orient Longman
Limited, 1998. vii. 226 pp. (Tables.) Rs. 190.00. paper. ISBN
81-250-1434-9.

This book provides an overview of women's predicaments in the

mainstream political scenario. It examines historical, socio-cultural
and political factors responsible for limited participation of women
in the public life in the post-independence period. In the
independence movement, women politicians' place in the social
hierarchy and the family setup played very important role in their
political journey. Their fathers, brothers and husbands determined
the type and extent of autonomy\ control , when they were faced with
new opportunities provided by parliamentary democracy of India -
either to be part of the decision making bodies ( applicable to
verbally articulate, educated elite women) or as simple a matter as
utilisation of voting rights. The most interesting aspect of this
book is its research methodology in which free flowing interviews of
women politicians f rom The Indian National Congress, Bhartiya
Janata Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and 2 regional
parties with its mass-base in the North India and 3 regional parties
influential in the Southern parts od India are given place of
prominance. When we see them on the public platform advocating their
parties' political agenda, we are overwhelmed by their guts, charisma
and star value. Hence we need indepth interviews of our politicians
which net their private and political priorities, their preferences
and prejudices and their class\caste and religious outlooks. This
book succinctly reveals that predominance of elite women in the
mainstream politics have influenced the norms and lifestyles of women
in the public life.

The authors examine the most controvercial issue of 33% reservation

of seats for women from women's rights perspective. Weapon of gang-
rape used against elected women representatives and women holding
important portfolios in the government and non-government bodies by
political thugs have forced women's organisations to evolve their
owm defense mechanisms with the help if their personal and political
allies. This has become all the more important in the areas rife
with caste, communal and ethnic tensions as there is drastic increase
in the female headed households ( managed by widows, deserted , old
and disabled women and their children). Among all mainstream
political parties, only CPI(M) accomodated women's perspective on
issues around identity politics namely Sati i.e. widow burning and
right to maintenance for divorced muslim women.

Their conspiracy of silence about political interventions of

autonomous women's groups, social action groups and non-party
political formations on wide range of issues involving the
marginalised sections of the ethnic and religious minorities, nomadic
tribes, displaced masses, informal sector labour force is SHOCKING. I
hope in their next volume, they include a question- "What can you
GIVE to your constituency to guarantee human rights, area
development, financial securities, industrial peace,employment
opportunities, occupatinal and environmental safety, communal
harmony, protection to religious and ethnic minorities, democratic
governance? " in their questionnaire for women politicians.

This book makes an important contribution to the existing body of

literature on political participation of women as it helps the reader
contextualise women's political existance in a secular democratic
framework. It will be useful to rejuvinate fossilised political
science and history departments of our universities. It will help our
decision-makers in the judiciary, bureaucracy, law enforcement
machinery and diplomacy to be more judicius in matters concerning
women.

References
Hazel D'lima "Participation of Women in Local Self Government" in
Susheela Kaushik Women's Participation in Politics, Indian
Association of Women's Studies, Vikas Publishing House,Delhi, 1993,
pp 21-30.