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This paper examines the impact of identity politics on gender equality. More specifically, it explores the paradoxical and complex relationship of religion and politics in a multireligious society and the complicated ways in which women’s activism both reinforced and challenged their gender identities. Contrary to the argument that religious politics does not always negate gender equality, the paper argues that the Hindu religious politics and women’s activism associated with it provides a compelling example of the instrumentalisation of women to accomplish the political goals of the Hindu right. It also examines the approach and strategies of influential political parties, women’s organisations, and Muslim women’s groups towards legal reform and the contested issue of a uniform civil code. Against those who argue that in the current communal conjuncture, reform within Muslim personal laws or Islamic feminism is the best strategy for enhancing the scope of Muslim women’s rights, the paper argues that such an approach tends to freeze identities within religious boundaries. It shows how women’s and minority rights are used within the politics of religion to sideline the agenda of women’s rights.