Paper short abstract:

While addressing the gap in understanding the autonomy and agency of Indian Muslim women, this paper unveils their tactful navigation through politicised, masculinized, and classified urban civic spaces in the face of Hindutva fundamentalism, challenging the narrative of controlled and enslaved.

Paper long abstract:

As Hindutva fundamentalism in India advanced to assertively regulating the polarising politics, the relationship of the already dissociated and marginalised Muslim minority with urban civic spaces started eroding. Within this community, the distinct subset of Muslim women is tactfully navigating through urban civic spaces, diverging from the Hindutva-subscribed global monolithic narrative that renders them as controlled and unaware, who need to be liberated from Muslim men, even against their will, if necessary. While assessing Muslim women's mobility and accessibility, the disproportionate emphasis on gendered and cultural orthodoxy has neglected vital factors such as urban planning and political regime, risking incomplete consideration of nationalist forces that are reversing the gains made by Muslim women by pushing them into socially and economically less productive spaces.

Through auto-ethnography and in-depth interviews conducted in Muslim ghettos in Delhi, the paper addresses this gap while examining the relationship Muslim women share with urban civic spaces and how the issues around autonomy that Muslim women encounter from their community members, are closely connected to the broader economic and socio-political backlash Indian Muslims face.

Despite the cultural and political challenges, Muslim women are 'switching and redirecting' their multi-layered identities, exemplified by the choice of modern modest attire that serves the same purpose as traditionalist hijab or burqa. As women navigate political regimes, patriarchal orders, and financial disadvantages while lacking meaningful belonging to public spaces and limited social connectivity, they are coming together over shared experiences and forming groups to publicly practice their identities as a collective.