Women have fought diligently for their rights to vote and to hold office and today make up 14.36% of the Indian Parliament. However, this figure remains too low, and is reflective of India’s broader gender problems, which are ongoing despite having been acknowledged as an issue in the Indian government’s 1994 statement to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
THE CAMPAGIN FOR WOMEN’S SUFFERAGE IN INDIA HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR OVER 100 YEARS
The campaign for women’s suffrage in India began in the early 1900s. In 1917, famous political activist and feminist Sarojini Naidu and Anne Besant became the flag bearers of the women’s political movement and led a delegation of 14 women from across India to propagate the idea of women's suffrage.
India’s Constitution, which came into force in 1950 following India’s independence, then officially granted men and women the right to equal suffrage. Despite this, India is considered the 20th worst country in the world in terms of female representation in politics.
The 73rd and 74th amendments to the Indian Constitution, which were introduced by the Parliament of India in December 1992, provide for one-third female representation. These amendments were intended to propagate visions of local self-governance in India, and were fundamentally meant to underline the importance of the third tier of Indian politics through the local councils like the Municipalities and the Panchayats at the village, semi-urban, and urban areas. It was considered that the amendment acts would help women to enter politics through reserving seats for them and thereby giving them prospects for empowering themselves at grassroot level.
However, the Women’s Reservation Bill, which is meant to secure one-third seats for women at the Lok Sabha (the Lower House of Indian bicameral legislature) was tabled back in 2008 but has failed to achieve a political consensus to date. The bill was subject to various recommendations but also many criticisms in respect of its drafting. Therefore, despite getting a clear majority in the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House of Indian Parliament) the bill failed to get majority support from the Lower House, and thus made its way towards the Joint Parliamentary Committee due to lack of unanimity.
INDIAN WOMEN HAVE BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS, BUT THIS IS NOT REFLECTED IN PROFESSIONAL POLITICS
It has been around 70 years since the Constitution of India was enacted to provide equal opportunity and political justice to all its citizens without any discrimination. Disappointingly, the reality on the ground falls short of these stated aims. Although India was one of the first countries to have a female leader, more than fifty years after Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India or Pratibha Patel became President, the number of women in professional politics remains low. It should be remembered however, the women have been active in Indian freedom movements, from Rani Lakshmi Bai to Kasturba Gandhi and many others who stood against the imperial rule.
The First General Election was held over a period of 1951-52 in India. Hardly any women were elected. Gradually, the margin started evolving and the 1967 General Elections Then, around 2.83% of candidates being fielded were women Of course, this percentage was still exceptionally low. When looking at the causes of this, it should be considered that the failure of Indian politics to be truly representative is not caused by a lack of strong woman leaders, but rather is the fault of prevalent customary and social barriers.
CULTURAL PREJUDICES ARE A BARRIER TO WOMEN’S ENTRY INTO POLITICS
India has long affirmed that women’s political representation is crucial in democratising and improving governance. Despite this, women continue to face social and institutional barriers, including a lack of higher education, physical violence in public and private spheres, and onerous patriarchal and caste fabrication.
These social barriers and patriarchal structures impact elected women politicians as well. The most striking feature which has been noticed is the ‘proxy participation’ of an elected female candidate, where she acts only as a mouthpiece of the dominant male members of a party. This was highly evident during the Panchayati Raj elections at the village level in India and even in state elections of certain semi-urban areas, like the case of Mava Devi of Bihar in India who contested the elections in 2016 as a mere mouthpiece of her husband, Mandal who received successive defeats in the previous panchayat elections of 2001 and 2006 respectively.Lack of confidence and minimal financial support are therefore the crucial factors that have discouraged female participation in politics.
Having a more educated female population may not improve the situation. A 1996 study by United Nations (UN) on Women’s Education and Fertility Behavior focused on how Indian women lose their capacity to work as they become educated. It reported a correlation between work participation and poverty, which again prevents women going into politics. On a brighter note, women nowadays are breaking stereotypes by registering their names for different political parties since India has a multiparty political culture, and thus joining politics at large. They are also coming forward by choosing radical political portfolios which encompasses strong foundations of political ideologies and visions to provide welfare for the community and the country at large, like taking up roles of party cadres to chief minister at the Centre and State.
RADICAL REFORMS ARE REQUIRED
To remove these structural barriers, a complete rejuvenation of the traditional ideas and alteration of the socio-political environmental infrastructure that surrounds women is required. Outdated ideas, like those which suggest that working in politics is masculine, must be challenged.
It should be remembered that nearly 70 years ago the UN emphasized that rights of women are fundamental in society. This position is often ignored in modern India, and therefore strict dialogue mechanisms and policies must be incorporated to oversee that rights of women are preserved.
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), along with the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, mandates equality and women’s rights not only in the domestic but also in the public sectors i.e. government bodies at large. Therefore, highlighting the UN Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals, India must incorporate Goal 5 which primarily focuses on empowering women and girls across all sectors and emphasizes on gender equality unilaterally. Even Article 2 of the Human Rights Charter, which talks about equal rights or liberty rendered to men and women, must be adhered to when it comes to political representation and participation in electoral affairs of state.
There are high profile women working in Indian politics today, such as finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, women and child development minister Smriti Irani, and the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee. It should also be mentioned that the number of female representatives has reduced in comparison to the number of female candidates who contested elections under the Narendra Modi government 1.0 of 2014. Matters are improving, but there is still a long way to go.
Political participation and representation demand more than the mere right to vote. These concepts require equal participation in decision making, policy articulation, political activism, and political consciousness. Women should not be included into politics just to follow the norms set by the Constitution. Rather, they must be allowed and given the equal opportunity, based on their credibility and ability, to redefine the nature of political leadership.
Swetu is pursuing a Masters in International Relations at Pondicherry Central University, India. She is also a research intern at the Observer Research Foundation and Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement.