Indian Women Need to Up Their Political Game

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In the last few days, we have been celebrating the first woman Vice President of color -Kamala Harris – of the United States, the most powerful country in the world. This is a true victory for us, fighting for women’s equality and women empowerment. Indians have also been very vocal about their celebration of her victory, which is more special to us considering, that she has Indian roots. As we celebrate this victory of womanhood, when we look into the political scenario in India, we see a grim picture – women make up only 14% of the Parliament as of 2019, though they make up around 50% of India’s population. Furthermore, women represent only 9% in various state assemblies.

Lack of interest due to lack of inclusiveness

So, what is stopping the women to actively participate and reach higher heights in politics?

The most common answer to this is that women are not really interested in politics. But the thing to ponder here is whether girls/women get equal opportunity or an ambiance to develop this interest. We still live in a society where the education of girls is given secondary preference to her brothers, where the girl child is expected to do household chores in addition to her studies, where important issues are discussed and decisions taken by the men in the family, where the main work of a woman from a young age is still considered as cooking and tending for the family. So, does she really get the environment to develop an interest in politics – probably not?

Empowering the rural woman

The 73rd Amendment Act of 1992 brought about radical changes in rural governance especially with the guarantee of one-third reservation of seats for women in Panchayati elections. This was a great initiative to improve women’s participation in politics. But rural areas still face very basic problems of patriarchy, poverty, female illiteracy, male dominance. Till the time, these basic problems are eliminated, it is difficult that this one-third of reserved seats are true representatives of the people. These seats can be easily bought by offering more basic essentials in return for dummy representation. When we talk about women empowerment, the focus also needs to be on rural women whose voices have been shut down for ages.

Objectification – every day, every where

We have come across several cases in the past few years where we see women even in high positions of political parties being objectified – some for their looks, some for their dressing sense, some for their past profession. These references are mostly never even mentioned for their male counterparts. This makes one wonder how much worse things would be for women still starting up and trying to find a foothold in politics. This objectification is an indication of the regressive mindset that still exists in society. The insecurity of men when seeing their female colleague rise up the ladder exists in almost every section of our society, but more so in areas that have been pre-dominantly male-dominated, like politics.

Acceptance

Research suggests that women legislators in India raise economic performance in their constituencies by about 1.8 percentage points per year more than male legislators. Studies also confirm that women are less likely to be corrupt with regards to their male counterparts. Recently, we have seen the efficiency with which Covid situations have been handled by nations like New Zealand and Germany which are headed by women in comparison to other countries. In spite of this, there is still a reluctance in society to accept the capabilities of women. Acknowledging the role and vision of women in improving the socio-economic condition of a country is often underplayed and not accepted.

Our Future

India was one of the countries in the world, which was headed by a woman, when it was almost unthinkable for many other countries, even the most developed one. Even in the current day political scenario, we have several strong women personalities – Nirmala Sitharaman – Minister of Finance, Smriti Irani – Minister of Textiles, Minister of Women and Child Development Sonia Gandhi – President of the Opposition party, Mamata Banerjee – Chief Minister of Bengal to name a few. However, the fact remains that these women remain largely anomalies in the Indian political scene rather than the norm. Studies show that for women to have a meaningful impact in Parliament, they need to reach at least a 30% threshold. We are still far away from this number, but hopefully, we will reach there soon in order to fulfill the dream of a gender-equal India.

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A few days back, Saif Ali Khan discussed his upcoming film Adipurush, which is all set to begin shooting early next year, in an interview with a leading newspaper. Saif plays the character of Lankesh in the film. In the interview, he mentioned that the director had tried to make Ravan humane in the film and justify Ravan’s abduction of Sita and the war against Ram.

“It’s interesting to play a demon king, less strictures in that. But we will make him humane, up the entertainment quotient, justify his abduction of Sita and the war with Ram as revenge for what was done to his sister Surpanakha by Lakshman, who cut off her nose.“

This statement did not go down well with netizens, with them soon trending #ArrestSaifAliKhan.

What hurt more – Blasphemy or Abduction?

A quick glance on the outrage on social media makes one realize that majority of the people were upset about Saif Ali Khan trying to give a positive angle to Ravan, who went against Ram and Sita, whom they worshipped. We have seen in recent times that our country has become sensitive in matters related to religion. And the fact that Saif is of a minority religion gives it a different angle altogether.

We have been taught the scriptures in a particular way from our childhood, the clear demarcation between the good and the bad. Were people more hurt because someone was trying to change their outlook about what they have been believing so far? Did Saif’s statement seem blasphemous (you cannot get away by speaking about our Gods)? Did the justification of abduction cross their minds?

You cannot justify abduction

The outrage over the blasphemy overshadowed the point that abduction or forceful holding of woman of any religion, of any stature, of anyone is not acceptable. Saif would not have meant any harm, but making loose comments such as this, does make crimes like these looks less hideous.

In 2018, the whole nation went in shock over the Kathua abduction case. A couple of years back a top Malayalam actress was abducted and molested and the way the abduction happened sent shock waves in the country. These are just isolated incidents that caught national attention. According to the latest NCRB data, in 2019, crimes against women registered a 7.3 percent increase from 2018, with kidnapping & abduction of women at a shocking percentage of 17.9 percent.

The trauma that a kidnapping survivor goes through is unimaginable. In fact, even the scriptures show the pain and hurt that Sita had to go through for years after her release. We can just to start to imagine how it will be for a common woman in today’s times.

Where to draw the line on creativity?

The ability to look into an incident from all angles and unbiasedly is a trait that only a few of us are blessed with. We have had many writers and film makers who try to show a story from the antagonist’s point of view. In fact, such stories broaden our mindset, helps us approach life and incidents with a different perspective, helps us being more empathetic. But there is surely a difference between expressing what incidents led a person into doing something wrong and to defend wrongful acts. What is wrong is wrong and cannot be justified. Saif may have gone in choice of words this time around.

Empathy – thats all that is needed

Saif Ali Khan has now issued a formal apology for hurting the sentiments of the people.

“I’ve been made aware that one of my statements during an interview, has caused a controversy and hurt people’s sentiments. This was never my intention or meant that way. I would like to sincerely apologise to everybody and withdraw my statement. Lord Ram has always been the symbol of Righteousness & Heroism for me. Adipurush is about celebrating the victory of good over evil and the entire team is working together to present the epic without any distortions.”

Hope this puts an end to the furore created – many people’s livelihood depends on a movie. And for sure there should be no restriction on anyone’s creativity, for anyone’s story to be expressed. But here is also hoping that women should not be considered easy targets to prove someone’s superiority in power, money or physical strength. Hoping we become more sensitive and proactive towards crime against women, women’s kidnapping, post-trauma rehabilitation and stronger laws for women protection.