There are suddenly many firsts to Indian women in polity of the country. But we must decide how much to cheer
The Indian media and civil society is going gaga over the election of first woman as speaker for the lower house. With this women in India seem to have become the favourite bet for holding prestigious political positions. Not only the first woman speaker, India can also today boast of having the first woman President, and the first woman Chief Minister to have won elections for the third consecutive term of NCR Delhi. Not only this, the UPA Chairperson, the most powerful entity who is calling the shots in the Indian government, is a woman. There should be a never ending jubilation in the feminist camps as Indian politics is suddenly witnessing an upsurge of women’s movement to its top echelons.
Lets compare it with some other facts of Indian polity. Out of 33 Union ministers, only three are women and one minister of state with independent charge. The election candidates also had a low representation from women across parties.
But a deeper and more relevant debate would be – do women ministers ensure empowerment of women, or in other words is it enough to have women in leading positions for the overall development of women in society? What is the role of ideology (that an elected man/woman represents) in emancipating women in general?
The Asian Human Rights Commission observed in 2007, when Ms Vasundhara Raje was the CM of Rajasthan, that Rajasthan is the favourite place for those who want to buy women! It sated “In Dholpur for example women are sold on market days. The women market is just beside the cattle market … Buyers come from far away places like Mumbai and even from Chennai in the far south. Purchases are made for various purposes. Women and sometimes children are bought and trafficked to various parts of India and often to neighbouring countries, mainly for sex trade. Some are brought to be married later.” The reasons sited are inability of parents to give dowry and huge farming debts as modernisation of agriculture has not taken place in the country. There was steep rise in crimes against women under Raje’s rule. The number of serious crimes such as murder, rape and dowry deaths had gone up by 4.8 per cent, 5.42 per cent and 10.4 per cent respectively in 2006, compared to 2005. The records say there were three rapes a day on an average that time.
Shiela Dixit, the third-term CM of NCR Delhi, commented after murder of a female TV journalist, Soumya Viswanathan, that “Driving at 3 am alone in a city, which people believe is not very safe for women after dark…one should not be very adventurous.” There was widespread criticism of the CM’s remarks, and rightly so as one would expect the state to take responsibility of protecting its citizens, including women, instead of asking them to restrict themselves to the four walls. Wonder what she would say about molestations and rapes in broad daylight. Do not step out of the house? Well then what about marital rape and abuses by family members? Separate spaces for men and women in private sphere? So, are we moving forward or backward in human culture’s evolution?
The women students and teachers in girls colleges of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh have been asked to follow a strict “decent” dress code to avoid harassment from men and boys. UP’s CM is Ms Mayawati.
On March 26, 2009 Delhi High Court said that “Killing of a woman by her husband seems to be an everyday phenomenon and so it bothers none.” In India the crime rate against women has been on a rise, even in the past five years. Despite laws like anti-dowry act, the menace against women does not seem to be decreasing due to non-implementation, even in states ruled by women, or having dominant presence of women in center.
Women empowerment is not a men vs women issue. It is about progressive vs regressive forces. The cynics who favour the male vs female theory do as much harm to the women’s movement as those who are not in favour of women empowerment. Placing women in dominant positions is of course welcome. But that should not be seen as an end in itself. Unless the socio-economic reality of the country changes, women at large will remain where they are. A real change is possible only from below.
It will be a big achievement for the Indian women’s movement if the Women’s Reservation Bill is passed. That will ensure real participation of women in politics of the country. This will also mean a more representative parliament. Right now most of the women parliamentarians have a family political legacy – Meira Kumar, Sonia Gandhi, Agatha Sangma etc. Only few like Brinda Karat are actually products of the mass movements. The ideological differences between the two kinds are exemplified in their understanding of women’s issues.
So, though Indian women should appreciate crowning of Meira Kumar as the first woman speaker of India’s lower house, they should consolidate to fight for basic rights and not be satisfied with such tokenism from the elite political classes.
Diabetes is at least two to four times more common among black, Hispanic, American Indian, Pacific Islander women than white women. Black Economic Empowerment
Comment by Black Economic Empowerment — June 14, 2009 @ 7:41 am |