In the recently released Electoral Roll of Mizoram the population of the state’s total voters stand at 6,33,455 voters with a registered increase of 4,002 voters as compared to last year’s Electoral Rolls. It marks an increase of 0.63 percent.
These figures give us an idea of the state’s political contours nowhere seen in any other states in a country of more than a billion people. Female voters in Mizoram outnumbered male voters with the figures standing at 3, 20,207 and 3, 13,248 respectively.
Ironically, the state doesn’t have a single women member in the state legislature. It is unbelievable but unfortunately true!
And, it is surprising that this anomaly has not yet called the attention of the state’s intelligentsia to warrant a discourse on this issue.
During the last Assembly polls 10 women filed their nominations which is the highest ever in the history of the state’s Assembly. Those who eventually went on to fight the election did not smell the sweet scent of victory.
Since 1972 there have been only three women legislators: Thanmawii in 1978, K. Thansiami in 1979 and Lalhlimpui in 1987.
And, perhaps this is the only state in the country to have such a skewed representation of gender or the lack of it thereof in the history of its Assembly.
Nagaland also cut a sorry figure with not a single women legislator being elected to the present Assembly. And Meghalaya, a state that prides itself in being a matrilineal society where women are supposed to be more powerful than elsewhere in the country did manage to send only one woman to the Assembly. Tripura has comparatively fared better with 3 women members in the state Assembly during the last Assembly elections.
Mizo women by custom and practice have always played a very important role in the socio-economic development of the community. Generally, women in the north east are far more empowered than most in the country. The same can be said of Nagaland and Meghalaya or for other north-eastern states where women are comparatively far more advanced in all spheres of life. Their role and position in society has earned them command and respect not enjoyed by their counterparts in mainland India.
For instance, in Mizoram we see most business establishments in the state are run by women. In terms of access to education, women get equal opportunities if not better than their male counterparts. And, they have proved their mettle in different fields and determined women are carving their own niche in every field including those which were entirely male dominated.
Then, why have we not seen women’s participation in politics in the state? What could be the possible reasons that keep them away from entering the fray or what are the factors that stop women from entering politics?
Generally, it is often pointed out that many women find it difficult to participate in an effective manner in politics for the following factors: Issues of domestic responsibilities, lack of financial clout, growing criminalization of politics, threat of character assassination often witnessed in politics, and politics being male dominated, and absence of women in leadership positions in political parties
Women in our society don’t seem to lack any of the skills required to become a politician. They have proved to be good housewives, good mothers, good cooks, good musicians, good sportspersons, good teachers, good administrators possessing equally good business acumen and other sets of skills required for success. And, they have it in them to triumph over gender based obstacles and other challenges that they have to face by virtue of being women.
And these points to a pressing need for us to analyze the role that women can play in politics and in the overall development of our state.
Women’s role and participation in politics should not be merely limited to exercising their votes at times of election or to be confined to doing kitchen chores during election campaigns or after election win parties. They must be made a part of the game.
Male dominated political parties and male centric policies adopted by them wherein women have not been given any space to break into this male dominated political sphere is one of the primary reasons why we don’t see women politicians in the state. First, very few women have been nominated for contesting elections and those few who did get to contest did not even stand a chance to win it for reasons apparent to us all. Often women were made to contest elections from constituencies where the political party she represented knew that there was very little chance of even a surprise win. And, those few determined and daring women who chose to fight lonely battles as independent candidates found the going tough to surmount in the face of monetary might and other advantages enjoyed by their already established male opponents.
Perhaps, the absence of a Sonia Gandhi or a Mamata Banerjee in our society has not left any role model for our women folks to draw inspiration from in threading a similar political path. This could also be a factor why not many Mizo women do not think of politics as a viable option to opt for.
Now the onus will lie on political parties in the state whether or not to force a change in this scenario. The political parties must give sufficient representation to women during ticket distribution for the state assembly elections. Political parties must also encourage women’s participation in the village council and municipal elections and women must be made a part of the decision making process in the party offices.
Civil society and the educated class must start a discourse to discuss and debate and highlight this democratic folly through their shared belief and press for a change to the hitherto male dominated Mizoram politics.
The state’s powerful non-governmental organisations like the Young Mizo Association (YMA), Mizo Zirlai Paul (MZP), the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP), and the influential Church should also press for similar demands with the same vigour and determination as they often did for other less pressing issues.
And, of course women must also start to reassert for their rightful stake in every sphere of life, most importantly in the political arena. More and more women should show interests in contesting elections; starting from village, the municipalities and the assembly and Lok sabha polls. And, political parties in the state can contribute to this by encouraging women party members to contest elections starting from the grassroots level itself.
In the aftermath of the Assembly elections in Meghalaya, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh which together sent only 4 women members in the Assembly, Padmashree award winner Patricia Mukhim has said, ''It is paradoxical, and despite all the pandemonium, the fact remains that men do not consider women capable of carrying out the duties of an MLA”.
This rightly sums up the realities of the northeast when it comes to women’s participation in electoral politics. Women’s participation in politics is significant not only on grounds of gender justice or for earning legitimacy to the democratic credential of our system but to also bring competency and an array of skill set which our male politicians have failed to demonstrate so far.
But, will we see the wind of change in the coming years? The state will only gain from women’s active role and participation in the decision making process. We need this wind of change. And, the sooner we see it happening, the better it is.
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