Indian women still face extreme discrimination
DESPITE India being well known for having taken the lead in giving greater importance to women in politics than even the Western nations, there is no denying that women in the country still remain politically and socially deprived. Paradoxically, women in India seem to be in most situations at virtually extreme ends of the socioeconomic ladder, at the top and also at the bottom.
Where they seem to be in command, in essence, they have little importance, numerically as well as actually. Politically, in the ruling Congress party, Sonia Gandhi is known as the high command. Yet, prospects of her ever being considered for the most important political position, that of the prime minister or even as the country’s constitutional head are nonexistent. Yes, this is primarily due to her being foreign-born.
But then, it is rather amusing that this hard reality has played little importance in her being accepted as head of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Sonia is very much in command of the country’s political reins yet her name figures nowhere for formally taking over the charge.
Though leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha (Lower House of the Parliament), Sushma Swaraj is not foreign born, her political rise seems to have been snubbed to this level only. She has been holding this position since December 2009. Compared to speculations voiced earlier over her predecessor L.K. Advani’s prospects of becoming prime minister, little attention has been paid to Swaraj holding this position. The alacrity with which recent months have witnessed drama raised over Narendra Modi’s political ambitions cannot be missed.
Has Swaraj been deliberately sidelined, only because she happens to be a woman? Modi’s recent comments about women’s malnutrition in Gujarat only partly reflect his limited and confused understanding about them. He has tried to dismiss problem of their malnutrition to their being too “figure-conscious” to eat well. So, does he view them only as fashion-dolls and gives little importance to their political potential? This attitude may also be responsible for his deliberating on his ambitions for Delhi-power as he apparently has no inclination to let a woman party member nurture the same. Undeniably, the Congress has tried to demonstrate its support for progress of women by elevating a few of them to important positions. Pratibha Devisingh Patil is the first lady to have held office of the President (July 25, 2007 to July 25, 2012). Meira Kumar is the first woman Speaker of Lok Sabha. She has held this post from June 4, 2009. Yet, the hard facts still cannot be brushed aside. The 542-member Lok Sabha has only 60 women legislators. The Congress has 205 members, of which just two dozen are ladies. Only a dozen of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s 114 legislators are women. Despite women constituting around 50 percent of the country’s voters, it is pathetic that their representation in the Lok Sabha is so low.
Statistics state the same in Rajya Sabha (Upper House). In the 244-member Rajya Sabha, 26 are ladies. The strength of Congress in this House is 70, of which 9 seats are held by women. Four of BJP’s 49 members are women. Virtually the same status is reflected in state assemblies. And yet, the women hold the sway in a quite a few important parties. Mamta Bannerjee heads Trinamool Congress, Mayawati leads Bahujan Samaj Party and J. Jayalalitha has the command of AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam).
With India still being a male-dominated society, should it be assumed that practical political sense has guided women leaders in not making too much noise about pushing more women into politics? So it seems. Not surprisingly, there has been of late a dead silence on demanding reservation for women in politics. Perhaps, if the scheduled parliamentary elections were not so near (2014), politicians concerned about this sensitive issue may have been expected to raise their voice on it. But at present, they just cannot afford to. Neither party is expected to even consider ensuring 50 percent of its tickets for women contestants. Thus expressing “commitment” at present toward reserving seats for women in Lok Sabha is viewed as equivalent to throwing a banana skin on floor to ensure one’s own fall on the political field.
Political field is just a minor display of women’s importance still being considered as secondary compared to that of men. What else does continuance of practices such as dowry deaths and female infanticide suggest? What is indicated by shift in sex ratio under age of seven, which was 104 males per 100 females in 1981 and 109.4 in 2011? Around 2,000 girls are illegally aborted daily in India, because of which up to 50 million girls and women are missing from the country’s population. Who is responsible for millions of women, the unwanted ones being killed? And yet, India is also a country, where the maximum number of women are revered and worshipped.
Ironically, while self-claimed leaders have displayed little hesitation in undertaking fasts, holding demonstrations and even courting arrest on the issue of corruption, they have practically ignored socio-political discrimination faced by women. Are they apprehensive of touching on issues which are socially relevant but devoid of political importance? Perhaps, this is true. And this is one issue on which cutting across political differences most politicians have kept their lips virtually sealed. Demand for women on the bigger political stage shall probably remain severely restricted till silence is preferred on millions missing from the population. Whatsoever be political heights commanded by Sonia and other women, the bitter truth is that political importance of women in general remains confined to the ballot box!
— The author is an Indian freelance journalist who has written extensively for national newspapers.
