Merina Chishi
The right to freedom of speech and expression has been liberally used over these few months. Accusations, declarations, rejoinders and all these bunch of similar slogans have made their way into our common rooms every morning. Some have been overlooked and some have created buzz. But the one that gets the cake is the rejoinder from the President of the Dimapur ACCC-3 against his colleague, the State Mahila President.
Some women have reacted angrily to the news and I don’t blame them for their outcry. As a woman and an educated person, I feel it was the most humiliating and disgusting statement that has ever been written against anyone. The writer may believe that he was trying to prove a point. But the fact remains that he is, I assume, an educated man, and he should have done his homework before making such remarks. Competition is healthy and politics is all about competition, is he not game for it?
“We would also like to challenge Atsole Wazah to prove her ability in Dimapur III... if she can bring at least 20 votes for her candidate, the Dimapur III ACCC will consider her a capable leader.” These were the words he used, to describe a capable leader. He also ‘advised’ the Congress Mahila President on a certain matter. There is something called discretion and maturity. Advise behind closed doors, particularly if you belong to the same party. Don’t wash your dirty linen in public. For heaven’s sake, you follow the same party principals and ideologies. Unless of course… Mahila’s are supposed to be of inferior quality. What is more amazing is that the NPCC remains a mute spectator to all its internal bickering and the party is loosing its standing. I am sure there are more important things to attend to, but the NPCC should kindly request its party leaders to be a little more discrete in public. There will be differences and enmity, but we still should keep our values and common sense intact.
There are probably personal differences, party politics behind all this, I don’t care. What upset me most is that he should question the capability of a woman. It is pure male chauvinism. The intending woman candidate may not get 20 votes, but at least let her supporters do what they need to do. The President is also probably doing his part and is anyone questioning him? The role of women in politics is still wanting and it is a pride for Naga women that our counterparts are finally making a foray into mainstream politics. We need to look beyond gender.
However, this is not just about politics; it’s about the identity of women. This is an eye opener for all of us. It seems Nagas don’t practice what we preach. We talk about gender equality and regard for women in society, but it all seems so hypothetical. There is glaring inequality in our society and I strongly believe that no one has the right to challenge our efforts to empower ourselves. So I’m saying it again, men’s psyche must change so that we meet at crossroads and bring some fine- tuning together.
