Samuel Sumi
Diphupar
My discourse in social media on Women Reservation might have attracted the attention of our womenfolk and who knows many might have settled uncomfortably. Maybe my poor sense of expression failed to draw a specific conclusion. But till date I, for one neither supports nor opposes 33% Women Reservation instead what I am trying to argue are:
(1) Lets venture to understand our social and customary status and respect our biological identity (2) Why govt drafted/adopted the Nagaland municipal bill/act, why rejected it and lately again approved it without board based consultations but hook in to one-sided controversial advises and the political will of the present govt (3) Why not weigh the merits and demerits of the Act under the present format and its contradictions with art. 371(A) if any and set-up the most welcomed ULBs after due amendments (4) What merits legislation of Women Reservation in Nagaland and (5) If WR is necessary due to gender discrimination which is affected due to certain Naga customary practices than isn't it proper to first rectify our customary wisdom and only then follow legislation exercises if necessary.
Naga customary and traditional practices evolved when our great great grandparents were pagans, animist, illiterate etc so we can't deny some flaws including gender discrimination inappropriate to the contemporary context but this generation survives on the blessings of the gospel which is through Christ and as such gender discrimination is a foreign wisdom unknown to our Bible. For better understanding, if we refer to the genesis of the universe, in Eden God blessed and authorised the first Adam and Eve to jointly live, rule and fill the whole earth. Hence, in absence of any one of the genders, the definition of humanity is lost and God's purpose for His beautiful creations remains elusive, even more so Naga women enjoy equal respect and prominence in Naga community ever since the advent of Christianity in our land.
Nevertheless, if our adorable women folk can frankly say "we are weaker human being" or can justify that they have been rampantly deprived of their humanitarian privileges, we the brave men folks should regretfully retrospect our shortfalls and thankfully extend the required reservation quota so that together we can make this planet more beautiful and live happily for the glory of the almighty God of the vibrant Naga people. As a goodwill gesture to our beloved women, hey intellectual men folk why only 33% WR in ULBs rather we must cordially invite our women to jointly occupy berths in the parliament as well as in the legislative assembly by giving them special reservation quota and courteously slice out a 1/3 of the seats to them. Under this pretext our women would deserve the highest honour for total reservations in all political and societal spectrums. The 1/3 of the sitting hon'ble elected male members should be happy enough to accept it as a privilege to honour our magnanimous womenfolk and graciously pave way for a sound democratic alliance. But, Naga as a community is proud to proclaim that we have world class female counterpart of our blood who are ashamed to say "we survive on women concessions" but with dignity they uphold "the able should lead to whom even Mount Everest isn't a challenge but sky is the limit" and we praise God for that. If my daughter is inferior than others, I as a dad would never agree to any grace mark but I'd encourage her to do better by putting more energy because she is the jewel of my soul.
Regretfully, I guess trying to settle this issue on gender privilege quota and certain likely hiccups in the Nagaland municipal Act through political wisdom will only shower unabated avalanche of enmity destroying the fabric of Peace and Unity in Nagaland.
