Moa Jamir
In 1969, Nagaland had two women candidates in the State Assembly election: Ravole as a candidate for erstwhile United Front of Nagaland from Western Angami Constituency and RL Kinghen as an Independent from Bhandari. Thereafter, 12 more women have contested in Assembly elections intermittently in the 53 years of Statehood, the highest being in the 2008, when 4 women candidates were in the fray.
In 1977, Rano M. Shaiza successfully contested the Lok Sabha elections on a United Democratic Front ticket becoming the first and only woman from Nagaland to get elected either in a state or union election.
One thing, however, is apparent. Apart from 1969, all women candidates contested either as an independent or on a national party ticket which either had little or no significant presence and not from any mainstream State Party. Thus, they were either destined to lose or fielded as a token and most forfeited their security deposit in the elections.
In a nutshell, representation and platform for women to participate was impossible due to prevailing societal and institutional mechanism. At the same time, if we look at the electors over the years, the share of women voters was bigger in most elections.
Against this backdrop, the recent decision of the Nagaland Government to conduct elections to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) under Nagaland Municipal Act, 2001 by granting 33 percent women reservation is a much-needed course correction. The decision to this effect was taken during a cabinet meeting, Chief Minister TR Zeliang said at a state level function recently.
While the decision was taken after years of legal recourse, which the Joint Action Committee on Women Reservation (JACWR) took after the Nagaland State Assembly on September 22 rejected the 33% reservation of seats for women (Part IX (A) of the Constitution of India) on the ground that it infringed upon the Article 371(A) of the Constitution of India, after opposition from leading male-centric apex organisations.
Consequently, the Supreme Court in April this year has directed the State Government to conduct elections to local bodies with the implementation of 33% reservation for women.
There is a rationality of having women reservation, this column has argued recently (see. Reservation is pertinent; rationality dictates so, The Morung Express, March 9, 2016).
Predictably, the Naga Hoho, the apex body of the Nagas, was the first to register a protest, saying it was still “pre-mature to introduce 33% reservation in Naga society.” It also resolved to advocate women empowerment by creating various opportunities, it added. Other may follow suit.
However, beyond an obsession with anti-reservation quotas, the leading social organisations has not been able to engender a platform and mechansim to address the lack of women in decision-making or policy making. There are exceptions, but rarely a norm.
In a predominantly patriarchal society, institutional set-up as well as polity, is still entrenched in a worldview where women’s role are consciously and subconsciously assigned to the private sphere, not in the public realm. Unless this mindset is completely obliterated, reservation is pertinent. It is a constitutive necessity and State’s policy is imperative to allow the women to participate positively in the evolution of the society. It is needed to correct the social barriers that have prevented women from participating in politics and compensate for the historical discrimination.
The reservation for the women must not also be seen as a charitable grant to a weaker section, but rather an impetus and a step toward creating a level-playing field in policy and decision making.
However, the reservation must not be the end in itself. If the process is hijacked by tokenism and politics based on the old dispensation, it will be self-defeating and opportunity wasted.
A drive towards genuine egalitarian society can be achieved only when all sections of the society are genuinely empowered equally to participate and exist cohesively within its ambit.
The women reservation is a crucial step towards this end.
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