An Open Appeal To Mulayambhai

We are saddened to hear reports that the compromise formula you are proposing on the Alternative Women's Reservation Bill involves bringing down the women's quota in ticket allocation to about 15 to 20 per cent.

Madhu Purnima Kishwar

Updated on: 15 May 2003 12:00 am

Respected Mulayam Singh ji, It is commonly believed that you and other OBC leaders have offered thestiffest opposition to the Women's Reservation Bill.

Therefore, it is very heartening to know that you have reconsidered your stand and are willing to discuss thepossibility of party-based quotas for women in ticket allocation, as suggested in the Alternative Bill draftedby Manushi in place of the Official Bill mandating 33 per cent reservation of constituencies on a rotationalbasis.

However, we are saddened to hear reports that the compromise formula you are proposing on the AlternativeWomen's Reservation Bill involves bringing down the women's quota in ticket allocation to about 15 to 20 percent. Unless a substantial number of party tickets are allocated to women, we will not witness a worthwhileincrease in the number of women legislators.

If women remain an insignificant minority within parties as well as in Legislatures, they will not be ableto play a meaningful role.

India has so far had the unique distinction of being a society where men have played a leading role in thestruggles to strengthen women's rights. Leading social reformers of 19th century like Ishwar ChandraVidyasagar in Bengal, Veerasalingam in Andhra, Ranade and Mahatma Phule in Maharashtra, Lala Devraj in Punjab,and many others initiated the process of making dignified space for women in public life by fighting for theirright.

This was at a time when suffragists in Europe were being attacked and humiliated by men for demanding equalrights in the political domain. When Mahatma Gandhi assumed the leadership of the freedom movement, thisprocess of bridging the social and political gender divide in India assumed still greater momentum and becamea mass movement because Bapu saw the struggle for women's equality as an integral part of the freedommovement.

Consequently, women's rights movements in India did not assume the form of gender-warfare as it did in manyother societies. The right to vote, the right to constitutional equality, the right to hold political officecame without bitter battles between men and women as happened in many other countries.

This tradition did not die with independence. Jawaharlal Nehru was a fierce champion of women's rights eventhough post-independence India saw a rapid withdrawal of women from public life, thanks to deterioration inthe quality of politics and governance.

This erosion in women's roles was sought to be arrested by yet another man - R.K. Hegde. Even before women'slobbies rose to demand an appropriate share in political power, Hegde introduced 25 per cent reservation forwomen in the early 80's during his tenure as CM of Karnataka.

Rajiv Gandhi gave a giant leap forward to this initiative by introducing 33 per cent reservation for women inpanchayats and zilla parishads through a constitutional amendment. Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, with hisstrong endorsement for enhancing the representation of women in Parliament and State Legislatures, hasdemonstrated yet again that women in India don't lack strong allies among men in their struggle for theirrights and dues.

Given this tradition, it would be a shame if those of you who claim to represent the Socialist legacy ofJayprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia - two of the most outstanding proponents in post-independence Indiaof social justice and women's equality, should be seen as those who marginalise women in politics and refuseto make dignified space for women in their respective parties.

Mulayam bhai, no community can make progress if it consigns women to an insignificant position in society. Nosociety can be truly free if its women are kept enslaved. No self-respecting man will allow women of hisfamily or community to be seen as unworthy of equality. No politician with a will for power will keep thewomen of his constituency disempowerd. No leader who wants to take his community forward will tolerate thewomen of his community to remain backward.

Given your political upbringing in the egalitarian ethos of J.P and Lohia, it would be a befitting tribute toyour political mentors if you take the lead in announcing that while other parties might grudgingly implementa 33 per cent quota in ticket allocation due to the legal mandate, you will voluntarily bring in no less than50 per cent women into the electoral arena from your party.

After all, women constitute half the population. Such commitment to 50 per cent representation to women withinthe party structures as well as in Legislatures has been made by several parties in Germany, Finland, Sweden,Denmark. Not surprisingly, they are considered role models of democratic functioning. This is the time for youto be the path-breaker. I assure you that your party will be rewarded and you will be remembered in history asone who strengthened the roots of democracy and culture of equity.

We drafted the Alternative Bill provision keeping in view the apprehensions of OBC leaders that the women'sreservation quota is likely to be cornered by ''forward caste'', upper-class and urban-educated elite women.Since our Bill does away with the rotation system, you can identify potential women candidates of your choicewell in advance.
Whatever your present reservations about enhancing the number of women in our Legislatures through affirmativeaction, you will soon discover that women are far more reliable as colleagues than men. They will bring inmuch greater discipline in each party and make politics more stable because they have not yet been deeplyentrenched in the ''Aya Ram, Gaya Ram'' culture.

Women are far less likely to switch loyalties and abandon the parties which have given them tickets and helpedthem win elections. If political bosses avoid the temptation of inducting in only the biwi-beti brigade whoare sent in as proxies for their husbands or other male relatives to fill the mandatory quota, you will findsuch independent women more committed to strengthening their respective parties rather than being foreverready to switch loyalties to the highest bidder.

This is not to suggest that women politicians are virtuous angels. In this sub-continent, we have seen somenoteworthy examples of women politicians outperforming men in corruption, crime and authoritarianism. But onthe whole, fewer women bring in crime and corruption into party politics.

You will also find that most voters in India prefer women candidates, as proven by the consistently highsuccess rate of women candidates as compared to that of men.