Female Defenders of the Faith

Why do so many women defending the Right wing ideology, seem almost pleased with theories of violence against heretics ? Could such obsession with controlling all dissenters fiercely during polarized debates on prime time television , be the sign of a sentimental reaction to their own much hated soft core, almost like those 70s young of well heeled families going all dewy eyed over the Naxalbari rebels?
The nation comes first, then the Party and then individuals, NaMo has been thundering . ' True idealism is nothing but the subordination of interests and life of the individual to the community ...the sacrifice of personal existence is necessary ..' wrote Hitler in Mein Kampf . There are disquieting parallels here. The Parivar projecting NaMo, favors small Hindu familes and opposes homosexuality as unnatural . And so Madhu Kishwar's conversion from a bright and forthright feminist to a meek acolyte of a macho leader boasting of his 56 inch chest, is saddening if not downright distasteful .
However high sounding and ambiguous, authoritarianism such as the man with the fabled pectorals exudes today, starts with a core belief in some group's greater right to power on grounds of gender, religion, class or all of them .
Can we overlook the fact that after the old guards' ignoble ouster, the Party's vision of progress being supported by Ms Kishwar, remains firmly rooted in a sustained invisibility of women within the supreme decision making body of the Parivar , where men (increasingly one man) shall hold all the cards .
The emotional speechmaking that Ms Kishwar seems to be indulging in more and more to support and defend an indefensible, can only unlock dreams of revenge against all those who challenge the basic gender inequality within Indian families.
Once we get used to inequality within our homes where we were raised, and all protesters are swatted down and dismissed summarily, its so easy to accept other inequalities .
Watching the interview one could see Ms Kishwar's connect with The Leader . Two people with great drive and a suspicion that others have reached the top too easily and might pull ahead of them on the basis of their 'connections'. Like gatecrashers at a wedding party , they must support each other in a highly critical crowd. Sad.