Dr Asangba Tsüdir
This paper had earlier raised a question on whether one would agree on the view that corruption will decrease if more women take active part in Nagaland politics. Such question gives an understanding that women are less corrupted than men are. It has also been the ‘contention’ that corruption in the state will decrease provided women are given opportunities in state politics. This question comes at a time when the issues related to 33% reservation for women have been a much debated topic even after the government’s approval. The question also seemingly draws women on the lines of submission or denial in politics, that, within a patriarch setting, it can even be employed as a tool to reinforce and attest it as one that seeks to disprove the ‘validity’ of the question in negating women out of politics, though it may just be another opinion seeking question without having any intended conclusions.
Since ‘time immemorial’, women have been at the receiving end of being bracketed within a patriarchal setting. The sad reality is that women still continues to be constrained by traditional modes of thinking informed through a rigid patriarchal system. The existence of such system creates, among other phallocentric constructs, a dichotomy between the private and the public which has undermined the role of women in the public domain. Today, in their quest for self-assertion in claiming their rights and in not having the same political status as compared to men, their quest for a political identity along with the need to fight corruption towards a better society have given impetus to the voice of the women in their struggle for political participation. It has found a leeway through reservation and not through equality. The government’s approval of the municipal election with 33% reservation for women has been seen by the womenfolk, with some exceptions, as a gateway to women’s political participation. However, it not only places women within a ‘category’ called ‘reserved’ but such reservations defeats the very meaning and purpose of gender equality. But in their struggle for political participation, within a patriarch setting, it is happily accepted as something much more than just being a consolation which only time will tell.
In the evolution of education and technology and new modes of thinking, a crucial factor is the need for women in decision making at all levels of socio-political and economic activity without any reservations and at the height of political participation and decision making, the more pronounced concern is the need for women to stand in the general elections and to politically engage as state legislatures. This takes us to the ‘will’ of the women in the sphere of politics. The ‘political restrictions’ and a mindset often patronized by patriarchy can be some reasons why the political aspirations among women is very low. A space that most women find it uncomfortable or offensive to be associated with is the kitchen. But, in tracing the root base for building equality, the kitchen is the institution where social, political, cultural and moral tenets should be build. Only this can pave the way for dismantling the patriarchal constructs towards a ‘gender-equal’ society. On an urgent plane in consideration of a society with hardly any vision, it is time to break out for both genders and share the spaces with the ‘will’ to work responsibly in building a democratic society.
Drawing once again on the opinion poll question, it raises pertinent concerns related to corruption at a time when politics and corruption seem to go hand in hand. That, corruption is not a gender based issue. It is a moral issue.
(Dr. Asangba Tzüdir is Editor with heritage publishing House. He contributes a weekly guest editorial to the Morung Express. Feedback and comments can be mailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
