Pal Pariawala, Mumbai Uncensored, 25th June 2021:
In 1919, ardent pleas and reports indicating support for women to have votes were presented by suffragists to the India Office and before the Joint Select Committee of The House of Lords and Commons, who were meeting to finalize the electoral regulation reforms of the Southborough Franchise Committee. Neither the voting rights, nor the right to stand in elections were met. After becoming a republic in 1947, India finally granted women the right to vote. While India has crossed a few barriers from fighting for basic rights to getting our first female Prime Minister on January 19 1966, some would argue we have a long way to go.
Today it seems like the deep-rooted misogyny has taken a toll on women in politics. It’s disturbing and upsetting that some of the senior most leaders of the world’s largest democracy can’t seem to get past a women’s attire and her physical appearance. Be it the left or the Liberals, the term women empowerment is only relevant to parties as long as it’s a part of a political campaign. Even today, women are blatantly underrepresented and underestimated in Indian politics. Reservation of 33% was granted to women in local government bodies in the hope of creating equal opportunities and empowering women. However, the representation of women in Rajya Sabha has been bleak since 1957. The average number of female Rajya Sabha members is 9.5% while the highest was 12.7% in 2014. Other democratic countries like UK, Sweden, Germany and Australia have admitted this bias and corrected to allow a democracy that hears diverse voices on policies. Most of our neighbors including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bangladesh have reserved parliamentary seats for women as well. Such steps have boosted the number of women in parliaments but it’s a problem that can’t be solved overnight, it needs determined intervention. Several NGOs like OYE – Organization for Youth and Elderly (OYE India) , Shakti- Political Power to Women, National Association of Women’s Organisations (NAWO) and many others work relentlessly towards a better future for women in politics.
The only way to go about fighting sexism would be calling out senior leaders who’ve been distasteful with their language and letting them know about the consequences along with accountability from their respective parties.
