In this episode, Dr. Tanika Sarkar talks to us about the first public debates on sati, widow remarriage and age of consent, and locating  the woman’s voice in colonial India.

‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture. 

Notes:

1:13- With the example of the Age of Consent debate or the debate around the Widow Remarriage Act in the 19th century, could you explain the complicated power dynamics that were at play when it came to framing laws around gender and family justice in colonial India? Was women’s perspective taken into consideration?

13:22- Was the public debate around the Age of Consent Act the first instance of a public discussion on the question of women’s consent? 

15:11-Do you see similarities or continuities till today in the kind of discourse we are seeing around an issue like marital rape?

19:09- How do you think  public discourse and debate around women’s consent has evolved over time? 

22:52- How did Hindu women become the symbols of the Hindu nation?

29:23- What sort of narratives come through in some of the early writings by Indian women in the 19th century?