Main Presentation
Women and Democratic Rights in South Asia
By Shree Mulay
Two sections of society have very militantly
resisted antidemocratic forces globally. The first is the anti-globalization
movement of young people resisting the stranglehold of multinational
corporations, which has all but decimated social safety net programs
and has created an enormous underclass in the midst of extreme
wealth. The anti-globalization movement has successfully linked
environmental concerns, corporate greed and they have exposed
the antidemocratic character of the State, which at the slightest
provocation, uses extreme measures to suppress dissent. Consider
the escalating state violence from Vancouver demonstrations against
APEC or in Seattle against WTO, the FTAA in Quebec City or in
Genoa, Italy against the G-8 meeting, which claimed its first
casualty when the police fired on the demonstrating crowds.
The second movement that has coalesced globally
is the women’s movement. This movement is vibrant and militant.
It has an international character and like the youth movement
against globalization, it is linking up for action on several
fronts. Women from South Asia are very much a part of this worldwide
phenomenon. In this paper, I will attempt to summarize the challenges
faced by women in South Asia and suggest what we could take up
in North America. My hope is that through debate and discussion
we will develop a series of programs that INSAF will implement.
Rather than providing a historical narrative
of the struggles of women in South Asia, I will begin with the
UN conferences held in the past decade. UN conferences such as
the Population and Environment Conference in Rio (1992), the Conference
on Population and Development in Cairo (1994) or the Social Summit
in Copenhagen (1995) and the Beijing Conference on Women (1995)
all have attempted to redefine the role of women in civil society.
Despite the fact that women’s organizations contributed to
developing the plan of action, their critique and language has
been co-opted. It is tempting to dismiss these international meetings
as those of elites with no consequences for the woman in a shantytown
in Dhaka working in the free trade zone as a garment worker or
for the woman in the fields of Tamil Nadu planting paddy in her
bare feet in knee-deep water. Yet they have considerable effect
on shaping the prescriptive development agenda. There are conflicting
forces at play. On one-hand countries that are signatories to
the international plans of action make commitments to alleviate
the dismal conditions of women; they expect financial aid from
the more developed, richer countries to carry out the agenda.
On the other hand, there is a backlash against women’s social,
economic, political and cultural rights. Undoubtedly, the backlash
is not simply against women but also against the poor, the ethnic
and religious minorities and almost for the same reasons.
Women and Religious Fundamentalism:
The resurgence of religious fundamentalism, which
promotes the worst aspects of patriarchy has become a global phenomena,
be it Hindutava and the ideal "grihini" who abides by
the mythical ideal of womanhood exemplified by Sita and Savitri
or the Talibanization of Muslim women. The Talibans are not a
deviant trend in Islamic countries but rather the extreme manifestation
of fundamentalism in the context of Muslims. Otherwise how else
can one explain the Hudood ordinances that consider a woman’s
testimony to be worth half of that of a man or four men need to
provide witnesses testimony for a rape to be considered a rape.
Stoning of women suspected of adultery or the honour killings
of women are but only superficial manifestations of the routine
violation of basic human rights of women. All this is well known
and all in the name of preserving culture and traditions. Perhaps
what is less well known is the systematic deprivation women are
subjected to, literally from the cradle to the grave.
Women and Political Power
The struggle for Women's Equality in the social,
political and cultural arena has its roots in independence struggle
in South Asia. Post independence women’s organizations have
focussed more on social and economic rights and less so on political
rights. The realization the political participation and inclusion
of women in the democratic process is crucial for making gains
in all other spheres has led to a vigorous movement for political
participation in some countries of South Asia.
During the independence movement, women drawn
from all classes were very active in political life and in particular
in the non-violent resistance movement led by Mahatma Gandhi in
what is now India. During the reform movement in the late 19th
century and the early years of the Congress party, men and women,
inside and outside the traditional political parties made specific
demands for social, political and economic rights for women. In
the post independence period women assumed important positions
within parties and governments and some became ministers. In fact
four of the South Asian countries, have had women Prime ministers,
starting with Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranayake, who became the first
woman Prime minister in the world in 1951 following the assassination
of her husband. Mrs. Indira Gandhi became the Prime minister of
India following the death of her father, and of Lal Bahadur Shastri
who had followed Nehru as the Prime minister. Mrs. Benazir Bhutto
became the Prime minister of Pakistan on two occasions and continues
to be the leader of opposition. Currently, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
have women Prime ministers, Mrs. Kumartunge and Begum Khaleda.
In addition, both Bangladesh and Pakistan have women as opposition
leaders. In India as well, it is likely that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi
will become the next Prime minister. In each instance it would
seem that the women have become Prime ministers primarily by leveraging
their family connections. While women have occupied prominent
positions in the cabinet in four of the six South Asian countries,
the actual number of women members of parliament and other levels
of governance such as the provincial legislatures or at the Gram
Panchayat level (village governance body) has been small. In fact
majority of women are not part of the political process in these
countries.
In 1995, as a result of very concerted lobbying
efforts by women's and equality-seeking organizations, the United
Front Government in India approved reservation of 33.3% of seats
at the Gram Panchayat level for women. Many political parties
supported this effort and in the past three elections women have
been elected in substantial numbers meeting the quotas in most
instances. Base on this Experience, a bill seeking 33.3% reservation
of seats for women was introduced during the last session of Indian
parliament. This bill had a very mixed response, both from within
the women's movement and from mainstream political parties. The
bill was ultimately defeated. However, the commitment to seek
reservation of seats for women remains on the agenda of many women's
organization. The lobbying process for reservation of seats for
women in India sparked a great deal of interest in other South
Asian countries. There has been discussion amongst women's organizations
whether similar bills for seat reservation can be introduced in
the parliaments of each of the South Asian countries.
Although some women have held important positions
in political parties in South Asia, and four countries have had
women prime ministers, participation of in political process is
meager. Women have sought out various models for increasing political
representation including Affirmative action or seat reservation.
In India 33% reservation of seats for women was legislated for
Gram Panchayat (village governing body) level in 1993. In 1998
a similar bill proposing 33% reservation in the national and provincial
parliament was defeated. The debate is far from over. Other countries
of South Asia have wanted to emulate the example of India.
Some Aspects of the Current Debate
There are many pros and cons for reservation
of seats. There are two major aspects of the reservation issue
under discussion. One is the question of whether reservation of
seats in the parliament is a useful legislation at all, especially
within the South Asian context where among other things family
connections and nepotism can quickly be used to erode the essence
of any such legislation. Alternatives to reservation of seats
in the parliament include reservations within political parties,
strengthening women's participation within local governing bodies
first, leading to a trickle-up effect, etc. The second question
is the exact model to be used for reservation of seats for women,
i.e. what is a representative percentage (e.g. why 33% and not
50% which is more in accordance with the population ratio)?; should
there be fixed constituencies or rotating ones?; should there
be reservations within this reservation for women of lower castes
or disadvantaged regions? etc.
Among the South Asian countries, the most robust
and recent debate in this connection has been undertaken in India,
given the fairly recent introduction of the reservation bill.
The provisions of the reservation bill as presented before the
Indian Parliament can be summed up as follows: One third of the
seats will be reserved for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures
through a constitutional amendment. These reservations are meant
for an indefinite period, unlike reservations for Scheduled Castes
(SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) which lapse unless extended after
every ten years. The reserved constituencies are to be determined
through a lottery system. For SCs and STs, constituencies are
reserved on the basis of population proportion. Constituencies
with a high SC population are selected for period of time and
are supposed to be delimited after some years. But since the population
of women is evenly spread throughout the country, this formula
cannot be applied for them. The lottery system will mean that
before every election a different set of constituencies will be
declared as reserved for women. There is also a provision for
parallel reservation for SCs and STs, which is to say women belonging
to SCs and STs will be getting one third of seats reserved for
people of that category - in other words there will be reservations
within reservations.
The major criticism levied against this bill,
not by the political parties but by some women's groups has been
on the issue of ghettoization of women in politics. Even though
there will be no legal bar on women standing from general constituencies,
it is highly unlikely that women will be given tickets from outside
the reserved constituencies. This same pattern is evident with
SCs and STs who have been permanently confined to reserved constituencies.
At the Panchayat and Zilla Parishad level, in most states party
bosses are not giving tickets to women to contest from general
constituencies which are assumed to be reserved for men. For state
legislatures, it will be much harder for women to secure tickets
beyond the stipulated quota because of intense competition at
this level.
Another aspect under criticism is the fact that
this bill pitches women against each other only. If even in the
political realm, women are constantly pitched only against other
women, there will be far less possibility of their working together
as a concerted lobby cutting across party lines, at least on some
crucial women-related issues. It will strengthen the tendency
to view other women as permanent rivals rather than possible allies.
Among the particular clauses of the bill proposed
in India one of the major criticisms has been that there would
be no way to predict which constituencies will be reserved in
the next election. In most functioning democracies politicians
are expected to develop and nurse a constituency. However, an
unpredictable and rotating reservation policy, already implemented
at the Zilla Parishad level, has resulted in killing women's incentive
to build their own constituencies because politicians have no
way of knowing which ones will be declared as reserved constituencies
next election. A similar set up for legislatures will result in
women candidates becoming even more dependent on their respective
parties, rather than working within their own constituencies to
win elections. Even after being elected in a particular area,
there will be no pressure to responsibly serve that constituency
because if in the next draw of lots that constituency is de-reserved,
these women will have to shift elsewhere for the next election
Some examples of alternatives to the reservation
of seats for women in the parliament that have been suggested
include the following. Inclusion of women in the political parties
through reservations and quotas initially. The examples most cited
are from North Western Europe. In Germany for instance, most of
the political parties committed themselves to a quota system within
their parties in which a certain percentage of candidates for
all elections have to be women. Even within the party decision-making
fora, a certain percentage of posts are reserved for women by
voluntary commitment, rather than legislative coercion. In Sweden,
the Social Democratic Party, the Left Party, and the Green Party
have committed themselves to a 50 percent quota for women while
the Liberal Party has a 40 percent quota. The Shetkari Sangathana
of Maharashtra in Aurangabad convention made an interesting proposition
concerning seat reservation for women. This proposal was formulated
after the Sangathana carried out a review of the results of the
one-third-reservation quota for women at the Panchayat and Zilla
Parishad level. The proposal advocates the creation of multi-seat
constituencies, with one-third of the seats reserved for women.
For instance, three constituencies could be clubbed together to
make one and these clubbed constituencies can be represented by
three people, one of whom must be a woman. The first two seats
would go to the two candidates who poll the highest number of
votes whether the candidate is a man or a woman. The third seat
would go to the woman who polls the highest number of votes among
the women candidates. This same principle of guaranteed representation
for women of at least one-third of all seats could also be extended
to a 50 percent reservation for women. In that case two members
in Parliament one man and one woman would represent each constituency.
This could be done while maintaining the current Indian first-past-the-post
system, or even if a proportional representation system was adopted.
We intend to enrich the debate with the inclusion
of more alternatives and models. In addition, the dissemination
of models recommended in one country to the others will be an
important part of this project to provide women in the target
countries with tangible ammunition to counter the current system
with.
At present the 15th amendment in Pakistani constitution
that seeks to apply Sharia laws in civil matters has been the
main focus of agitation for the Women's movement in Pakistan.
Likewise, in Sri Lanka the daily threat to peace and security
as a result of the ethnic violence is of primary concern. In Nepal,
the Government's ongoing fight with the Maoist movement and the
resulting violence has been of great concern to women's movement.
Women's groups in South Asia have been primarily engaged in damage
control and reactive measure to contain the harm done by various
other forces in the society. Obviously the inclusion of women
in the democratic process would greatly reduce the reactive role
of women and allow them to proactively formulate policies to strengthen
their position in social and economic spheres. The states that
provide the best amenities and working and living conditions for
women are also the ones that have the highest representation of
women in the parliament.
Thus, while the specific conditions are somewhat
different in each of the South Asian countries there is a great
deal of interest in assessing if, and what kind of reservation
and affirmative action positions in the parliament will ensure
equality for women and increased participation of women in political
life.
