Charles Mhonthung Ezung
Many distinguished writers have already expressed their thoughts on the issue of the policy of reservation of elective posts for Naga women in the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across the state as prescribed by the provisions of the Indian constitution. I would like to specifically mention the article, titled “Customs, Traditions and Usages,” written by our learned legal luminary P. Pius Lotha, former Additional Advocate General which appeared in Nagaland Post, dated 18th January 2017. This article precisely defines the three terms viz. custom, tradition and usage from the legal perspective leaving no scope for ambiguity. The article also states that the provision of women reservation is covered under the ambit of Naga customary laws and practices and as such is relevant for Art. 371A, to which I personally also agree to his opinion. Allow me to take this opportunity to also express my views on the same issue however from a different angle which is subject to analysis for criticism or appreciation as the case maybe. This article is by no means an exhaustive article since many other scholars are working on the same topic today from different angles. The objective of writing this article is to make an attempt to connect the two contentious elements of our contemporary Naga society viz. Customary Practices and Women Reservation on the basis of gender disparity. At the outset I humbly declare that I am a staunch supporter of the process which aims to take our society to the next higher level of human “civilization” but taking along with us our customs and practices as passed down by our ancestors to remind us and our succeeding generations about our roots and unique customs which God has blessed us with and which has made the Naga people distinct and special. I personally feel that I have an obligation to protect, preserve and transfer the customs and traditions of our ancestors to the succeeding generation as a token of my gratitude to our ancestors for laying the foundation of the modern Naga society with great vision and wisdom. This wisdom and vision are seen in the context of the “letter to the Simon Commission,” “the 9 Point Agreement,” and “the 16 Point Agreement.”
The interaction between Naga customary practices and the liberal democratic practices in our society has reached a critical stage today where the two practices may either reconcilewith each other resulting in a progressive society with a strong cultural root or clash against each other and polarise the Naga society into two extreme segments of the traditionalist and the modernist each pulling the Naga society in the opposite direction. The modern liberal democratic system is based on individual rights and liberties. Whereas the Naga customary practices are based on community based rights and liberties. The present imbroglio concerning 33% reservation of elective post in the Urban Local Bodies for Naga women and the Naga customary laws exactly manifest the clash of the traditional and contemporary practices in our society today. It indicates that we are in a transition stage and we need to be very careful and sensitive to the pressure exerted upon our customs and practices to adapt to the present “universal” culture both from within and outside our society. Our response as a societyto the demands of this adaptation so as to qualify as a “civilized” modern society must be on the basis of broad-base discussion covering the cross-section of our society. This cautious mode of approach to the process of modernization is necessary so as to proceed ahead without missing a step in our march to progress. In our effort to build a progressive society we must not blindly adapt to the prevailing universal “culture” for the sake of replicating the type of society prevailing in the civilized modern society in the western part of our globe. The ground reality in our society is not similar like the other civilized societies of this world. Remember the stage of progress of our society today has been already experienced by the civilized modern society ages ago. Therefore, what seems to be good for the other civilized societies may not necessarily benefit our Naga society for the reason that we are superseding the intermediary levels of progress which is potentially dangerous since the societal base becomes weak. The remark of the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru sometime before the inauguration of the 16th state of India speaks volume about the utility and relevance of the indigenous structure and system for governance then and even now from a great statesman like Nehru. Prime Minister Nehru had remarked that the Naga traditional machinery of self-governance at village, range and tribal levels should be strengthened. He even suggested that tribal names be given to the Legislative Assembly and to the Council of Ministers. Moreover, the then Governor of Assam Jairamdas Daulatram had also warned in 1951, "The Nagas should not be forced to practice the adult franchise system... The minute they are forced to go with the Indian system of election, their society will be divided into pieces and their cultural heritage, tradition and identity will disappear." The remark of the then Governor of Assam seems to be turning out as a “prophecy” about our Naga society considering the state of our society today. What may seem to suit others does not necessarily imply that it has universal applicability.
In this interface of the traditional structures and practices with the modern structures and practice the role of the state is crucial for avoiding conflict and polarization within the society. The state with its formal law-making and law-enforcement authority can soften incongruous or incompatible elements of both the traditional and modern systems so as to create a congenial transition of the Naga society to a modern progressive society with a strong cultural root, which sadly is missing in our case today. The state seem to be more interested in aggravating the prevailing situation instead of placating the conflicting parties for the simple reason that funds are more important than a stable society.
The advocates of the women reservation argues that Naga women are discriminated and subjugated by the Naga menfolk. The premise of their argument is built on the denial of ‘inheritance rights’ to women and non-inclusion of women in the apex decision-making bodies of a given tribe. Which are all true as far as the customs of our fore-fathers are concerned but for reasons which are meant to protect and preserve our ancestral land and which in turn shall protect and preserve our identity and our cultural roots. Apart from these two areas where our women-folks face “discriminations” no one can deny the fact that a Naga father or brother or for that matter a Naga man will never discriminate their daughters or sisters or women-folk just because they are women. We all know that if our ancestral properties were to be open for inheritance even by daughters, then their sons and daughters too shall inherit the same properties which may not be a problem if the husband were to be from the same village, tribe and khel. However, if the husband were to be from a different tribe or a non-Naga then the possession of a property in a Naga village is transferred to an outsider or a non-Naga. If a large number of the women of that hypothetical village were to own ancestral property and marries non-Naga men, then that Naga village will no longer have the natural feature of a Naga village. At this point we need to remember that we are who we are for the simple reason that we trace our root to our ancestral land. In other words our identity is tied to our ancestral land, that is, our native village and if our native village is socially extinct our roots also disappears thereby making us a non-entity.Another political situation often quoted to reinforce the claim that Naga society suffers from gender biasness is the absence of women legislators in the State Assembly. Naga customary law does not prohibit Naga women from contesting for any elective posts under the modern democratic system. Some women have contested in the past but they were unable to secure the support of the majority of the electorate. The reason for this failure could be unqualified candidature or inability to convince the voters or lack of financial capability and therefore could not develop “muscle” power, etc. In fact the existing political environment of our state is not conducive for any honest and capable leader to contest for the elective post – both man and woman. Come to think of it, I guess there should also be some percentage of reservation for man who is making an honest living and therefore do not possess hundreds of crores of rupees in his account but has the heart to serve the people through leadership and representation.
There's a big confusion concerning 33% reservation of elective seats in Urban Local Bodies for Naga women and Naga customary law. There's no explicit connection between the two for the simple reason that reservation is a modern concept for amelioration of the under-developed and under-privileged societies based on the principle of equity or parity.The adoption of this reservation policy has more long term impact on our customs than what we can perceive today. In the first instance as mentioned by several other writers and above, Naga men do not discriminate Naga women in the manner that our women-folks are living a subjugated life with no opportunities for their self-development. In fact I am not critical of the amelioration of women per se, but the manner of its implementation is what I am critical about. The policy of reservationeither for a social group or for women will only promote mediocrity within the affected society. No doubt we have greatly benefited from this policy of reservation for ST, but let us look back and study the quality of achievements we have made. The present pathetic scenario of our state covering every realm of our lives speaks volumes about the depth of depravity we Nagas have fallen into. I believe there is no further need to say anything in this regard. Many of our intellectuals have said in the print media as well as in the social media that the reservation policy is only going to benefit those who are already in the position of power and influence. On the other hand the women from the lower strata will not benefit even one grain of ‘empowerment’. The policy of reservation is a modern concept originating from the bounds of the Indian society, a highly stratified societyand when we accept and adopt this policy we are acknowledging that Naga customary laws requires external forces to make it relevant to the contemporary changing conditions. It ultimately implies that Naga customary law is never sacrosanct but open to change through forces from outside. Change per se is inevitable and necessary but it must originate from within so as to prevent undesirable changes detrimental to the existence of small ethnic social groups emanating from other societies. Under Art 243 T of the Indian constitution the State Assembly must provide reservation by law for women which if implemented open our customs to changes by non-Nagas without understanding the ground reality of the stage of evolution of our Naga society towards civilization. Under Section 4(b) of the VDB Model Rules 1980 1/4th or 25% of the posts in the Management Committee are reserved for women. Now this provision which was incorporated within the rural local self-government system in our state without any overt signs of opposition from any quarter of our Naga society has been used as “Precedence” to buttress the claim that the policy of reservation for Naga women has already been practiced and as such accepted. Now when this section of the VDB Model Rules can be quoted as precedence today for justification of adopting the reservation for women in the ULBs, the Reservation for elective posts for Naga women in the ULBs can be cited as precedence for future changes within the Naga society under the ambit of Naga customary laws and practices. In other words, we are setting the stage for the chain reaction to take place in the near future which might expose our Naga way of living to socio-cultural extinction through gradual erosion of the Naga customs and practices which distinguishes us as a Naga.
Regarding the non-inclusion of Naga women in the apex tribal bodies, the time and need has arisen for their inclusion but not on the basis of the method prescribed by external forces. Let the process for change concerning Naga women emerge from within the bounds of our Naga customary law and practices. Our fore-fathers have taught us to equally respect man and woman, and as we amend the Naga customs and practices for the amelioration of the lives of our women-folks there is a need to develop mutual trust and respect. When we make necessary changes by ourselves in this context we adapt to the new situation without jeopardizing our roots and identity. In brief, Naga women need the measure of equity but through a mutual consensus of discarding irrelevant ideas and adopting new measures. Art 371A of the Indian constitution prevents any outside interference to our culture and change can be brought in only with the consent of the Naga people through their elected representatives. Let us not act in such a foolish manner that in a hurry to eat meat we ended up killing the only boar which sows the seeds for more piglets (meat) in the days to come.
