The issues that have exercised the Hindutva-led moral brigade over the last two decades are similarly about women. The case against nudity in the Tuff Shoes ad, the agitation against lesbianism in the film Fire, the ban on women wearing jeans in UP or going to nightclubs in Bangalore, so on have all been directed against the free-willed, contemporary woman. In all fairness, to some extent these controversies also reflect an understandable anxiety in a rapidly changing society but the moral brigade does not seek to negotiate with the new but to force a return to the old.  

One cannot, however, blame Hindutva alone. The considerations of the marketplace that would like to reduce women to consumers also divert the media from any serious discussion on women’s issues to fashion and lifestyle. In the circumstances the noise about Mangalore is an interesting though still slight acknowledgement of the power of the women’s constituency. Now if women’s groups could capitalise on this unexpected pre-election opportunity to demand a more progressive agenda, then Mangalore could be turned from adversity to gain. 

amrita.shah@expressindia.com