Dimapur, February 9 (MExN): The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) today expressed “shock and dismay” on current imbroglio in Nagaland over women’s reservation while asking the State Government to “open a dialogue” with those opposed to reservation.
Distressed that customary laws are being pitted against gender equality, AIDWA in a statement issued by its President Malini Bhattacharya and General Secretary Mariam Dhawale said that attempt to “resist the constitutional provision of reservation for women to deny them their right to contest elections is reprehensible.”
“Equally condemnable is the high-handed action of the police in dealing with the situation leading to loss of lives,” it added.
AIDWA extended its support to the women and the organisations fighting for their rights in Nagaland and asked the Nagaland Government to “open a dialogue with those resisting the reservation so that peace can be maintained.”
State must uphold rights: Jagori & Saheli
Two major gender justice organizations have condemned the “unconstitutional demand” made by the Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) and demanded the “immediate resumption” of the electoral process for Nagaland municipal councils.
Jagori and Saheli Women, two organizations that have worked extensively towards gender parity in the Indian Union, have also strongly supported the Naga Mothers’ Association and others who have “consistently been fighting for the rights of Naga women for political representation.”
They have also demanded that the Nagaland State must “stop colluding with powers that promote anti-women practices of communities” while also implementing the 33% political reservation of women in local bodies with “immediate effect.”
“The state must uphold the rights of women, in this and other areas of law and governance,” they noted. A joint press release from the organizations pointed out that “While NTAC quotes Article 371(A) of the Constitution to assert that they are empowered to make their own laws, they chose to ignore Constitutional principle of equality before law, thus denying citizenship status to Naga women in the country.”
They reminded that there is little that is unique about the current uprising in Nagaland.
“Time and again women’s movements in India have confronted issues of community identity vs the rights of women. In almost every instance, communities and their leaders have chosen to sacrifice the rights of women to safeguard patriarchal practices in the name of tradition and custom,” they noted.
“What is not being asserted is that Urban Local Bodies are not traditional Naga institutions recognised by Article 371(A) of the Constitution but rather, Constitutional bodies under Part IX of the Constitution over which the traditional Naga bodies have no mandate,” the organizations maintained.
