Opinion Countering the critics

The truth,however,is that while in the present Lok Sabha there are 17 SC/ST women members,the enactment of the bill will ensure that their number goes up to at least 42. Electoral results of recent years have seen the numbers of elected OBC members climbing to over 30 per cent of the total in most state assemblies and the Lok Sabha. The size of the OBC population and its tremendous political mobilisation ensures that OBC women candidates are also very successful. For example,in the UP Vidhan Sabha,of a total of 28 women MLAs,between eight to ten are OBCs. Once the bill is enacted,OBC women will probably constitute the largest social bloc among the women MPs.

It is,however,a matter of concern that the numbers of Mulim elected representatives has dwindled both in state assemblies and in Parliament. This needs urgent attention and addressal but it is not a problem that can be addressed or resolved within the parameters of the Women’s Reservation Bill.

The March 9 issue of The Indian Express also carries an article by Madhu Purnima Kishwar who objects to the bill on three main counts: 1) that the provision of rotation of seats in the bill will lead to uprooting of legislators after every election and will make women candidates even more dependent on the whims of their male,political leaders and increase the numbers of the

“biwi-beti” brigade,exemplified by Rabri Devi; 2) biwi-beti brigade members are bad role-models for Indian women; 3) they actually “block” the way for other women to develop as leaders as has been done by the likes of Pramila Dandavate,Ahilya Rangnekar and Brinda Karat who were all promoted to heading the women’s fronts of their parties by their husbands who were party leaders.

The principle of rotation of seats has been included in the bill so that in 15 years,the lifespan of the bill,the reservation enjoys a horizontal spread across the country and is implemented in every constituency. Uprooting of elected members is bound to result but under the existing dispensation,it is certainly not a fact that all elected representatives devote themselves to development work in their constituencies or that those who do not are punished by their voters. Electoral reality is far more complex. Uprooting may,in fact,force political parties to become more responsive and responsible and discourage personal fiefdoms

The domination of most political parties (and the Left has universally been given grudging credit for being an honourable exception) one or more by political families is certainly a development which is undemocratic. It is astonishing,however,that Kishwar singles out the dangers of the “biwi-beti” brigade,symbolised by Rabri Devi,and bemoans the danger of assemblies and Parliament being invaded by this brigade,but completely ignores the anointing of a long and unending list of “sons” that includes Farooq Abdullah,Rajiv Gandhi,Ajit Singh et al. Kishwar alleges that the foisting of the biwi-beti brigade is done to safeguard family interests but the promotion of the sons has been done for precisely the same reason. Clearly,the serious malaise of political nepotism cannot be remedied by the scrapping of the women’s bill.

Kishwar goes on to blame “biwi-betification” for the problems that women have in gaining admission to and promotion within party structures by saying that wives of political leaders,who have been made leaders of women’s fronts of these parties are responsible for the road blocks faced by other women and cites Pramila Dandavate,Ahilya Rangnekar and Brinda Karat as examples. Pramila and Ahilya came to politics through their militant participation in the freedom struggle as young students. They later married political colleagues but continued to be leaders of struggles for gender equality,for Samyukta Maharashtra and for a host of other causes. To suggest that either of them owed their positions as leaders of struggles and movements,their elections to Parliament or their positions in organisations and parties to their husbands is the most unforgivable and unwarranted slur on their amazing achievements and to their commitment to travel down a very hard and stony path. Neither of them is with us today but that does not mean that such unnecessary and uncalled-for slander will go unchallenged. Brinda Karat has been an activist from her student days long before her marriage. She started working in the All India Democratic Womens Association from its inception,first as a district-level functionary and then,after five years of hard work,became its general secretary. It was while she occupied that post that she initiated a constitutional amendment that has made it mandatory for the key office-bearers at district,state and national levels to vacate their offices at the end of three terms. This has ensured that women activists can develop as leaders and occupy important posts without impediment.

The difficulties that women face in entering and advancing in the decision-making bodies of political parties are tremendous and they are being fought at all levels by indomitable women. Making false accusations against those who are in no way responsible for this state of affairs does nothing to help them in their struggle. Kishwar began her article saying that any legislation that claims to favour women sails easily through Parliament. This statement trivialises the difficult,bitter and long drawn-out struggles that have had to be waged for even the piecemeal passage of the Hindu Code Bill and the partial passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill. The path to gender justice is an arduous one,marked by these and other significant victories achieved through movements and collective action outside and within Parliament.

The writer is president,All India Democratic Women’s Association and member of the CPM central committee