Abstract

VAZQUEZ-VELA, Fernanda. WIDOW JATHA OR THE WIDOWS’ ORGANIZATION AFTER THE 1984 POGROMS IN INDIA. LiminaR [online]. 2021, vol.19, n.1, pp.101-117.  Epub Mar 02, 2021. ISSN 2007-8900.  https://doi.org/10.29043/liminar.v19i1.818.

Using a mainly ethnographic methodology, this paper discusses why the voice of women and their agency is still scarce in the history of India and especially in Sikh history. It then describes the 1984 Delhi pogroms as voiced by these women. The text analyzes the complex ways in which widows open spaces for decision making, advocacy, activism, and organization. Violence destroyed the world as they knew it, but it opened up other possibilities, such as the ability to move from the private to the public sphere, work for the first time, and decide on their marital status. They also formed leaderships and consolidated a political movement.

Keywords : political conflicts; violence against women; widows; empowerment; Sikhism; 1984 riots; modern and contemporary history.