The case of Rashminara Begum, a three-month pregnant woman who was placed in a detention camp in Assam for failing to prove her citizenship, has garnered significant national and international attention. This situation has raised questions about the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the state, with several other pregnant women, like Begum, being sent to detention camps.
Despite the fact that a maximum number of detainees are women, the differential gendered experiences have not been well captured, thus calling for scholarly attention.
The Centre for New Economics Studies’ Azaad Awaaz team conducted primary field interviews to explore the ways how the social roles and subjectivities of women contribute to varied experiences during detention. This article emphasises how the state utilises the bodies of female detainees as sites of torture.
Women are often caught in the web of statelessness, more so than men, because authorities often reject the documents they need to prove Indian citizenship. This issue essentially arises from the fact that poor women have fewer documents to establish their long-term ancestral residence in Assam. Consequently, an overwhelming majority of non-citizens are women, and they are subsequently detained in detention centres.
Most women in the detention centres are middle-aged and mothers. Given that motherhood is given prime importance in most societies, many women take their children to detention centres with them to be able to take care of them closely.
However, the gender-insensitive environment at detention centres do not take into account the needs of the mothers and their children who might accompany them, thus making the experience of female detainees more difficult to navigate. The case of Fatima Begum* can best substantiate this argument.
Fatima Begum, from Cachar district, experienced 10 years of detention in three different centres with her daughter. She was sent a notice from the Foreigners’ Tribunal when she was two months pregnant. About eight months later, she was declared a foreigner as a result of not being able to produce the necessary documents.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here .