Reclaim the Night: fight for people-centric security and belonging, collectivisation in the everyday public

Abstract

This paper is a reflective and analytical piece contextualising the ‘Reclaim the Night’ movement in the citizen's upsurge against R. G. Kar rape and murder in West Bengal. It discusses the question of security which has been the much-debated issue in media and political discourses and one of the focal points of the doctor's movement. Consequently, it argues how feminist initiatives symbolised through ‘Reclaim the Night’/Raat Dakhol translating into occupying streets, institutions, public places, familiar forms of feminist campaigns historically have been the claims for alternate visions of security. These new feminist mobilisations at the local level, beyond the city and known activist networks created a new narrative of rage, protest, struggle for alter-security in the everyday public. The paper digs deep into the gendered nature of public, notions of statist security, shrinking democracy in the Indian public and argues how ‘Reclaim the Night’ movement created a different belonging to the public and sense of security.