Feminism on crutches

By Ranjan Yumnam *

The passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the Upper House marks a milestone in the history of the political empowerment of women in the country, so say you. Sorry, I beg to disagree; the Bill is a retrogressive legislation and it will only depower the women and would make them feel more miserable and – well, discriminated than ever before. I have my own justification for saying so and please don't club me with the Neanderthals like the Laloo Yadavs of this world, for my point of view is gulf apart from theirs.

Laloo Yadav, in fact, is a good point to start. Rabri Devi, the Messrs' wife was installed as the Chief Minister when Laloo was convicted and sent to jail for some scam which are too many to remember. Rabri Devi became the Chief Minister of Bihar overnight, not on her own steam of political acumen, but because of her husband. It might be said that Rabri Devi became the first female Chief Minister on reservation long before the present Women's Reservation Bill saw the daylight.

She became a decoy CM while her husband called the shots. Now tell me who would you approach if you want to do a serious deal in Bihar? Who would you give more respect and play sycophant to? If I were you, I would rather have tea with Laloo then seek an official appointment with CM Rabri in her chamber. Laloo's loose talk is the Holy Cow's law while Rabri's pensive official discussion is the dispensable fodder (pun intended). In the end, Rabri must have felt belittled, humiliated and manipulated.

This is the likely fate of several women who would be catapulted to politicaldom only to be dumped when the shelf life of the Bill expires after fifteen years (after three parliamentary terms). Since reservation is to cover all the parliamentary/assembly constituencies through three terms in turns, a particular constituency will be reserved for women candidates for only one time. This is a tokenism at its best and an assault on the women's self-esteem at its worst.

Instead of encouraging women to come into politics, it may even deter capable women from contesting elections unless there is reservation. What would be more damning is that even competent and capable women may be seen as second class political leaders should they get elected through the vehicle of reservation.

On the other hand, reservation of any sort, tends to ultimately benefit the already privileged class in absence of a clear-cut enforceable creamy layer filter. Originally meant to uplift the disadvantaged groups, reservation policy has more or less ended in being an instrument for the privileged among those groups to usurp the share of the people genuinely in need of such affirmative action. The same fate might befall the underrepresented and voiceless women in the aftermath of the Women's Reservation Bill becoming a law.

In the hoopla generated about the Bill, little thought has been given to the imminent mass murder of good male politicians in the event of the Women's Reservation Bill coming into force. I know this seems like a very insensitive statement, but let's be real. Call me male chauvinist pig if you want, but do we want to snatch the seats from sincere and charismatic male leaders like Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, etc.?

While we would rue the likely demise of male leaders, let me tell you the Women's Reservation Bill is also dreadfully reminiscent of another reservation policy. I am talking about reservation of seats for SC/STs in the legislatures for many many years now; yet we have seen little improvement in the conditions of those social groups, except for the privileged among them. How might a Women's Reservation Bill elevate the status of women by making them MLAs and MPs? The Indian President is a woman, so is the Congress President; does this fact guarantee that women are better off than they were before?

Corollary to this is the question of rights of men, in particular the democratic right to contest and choose our best representatives, irrespective of the sex of the candidates. The Bill will deny half of the population to exercise their democratic rights, a fact which makes me think: Is it a women appeasement bill? Or is it really constitutional?

If I were a woman, I would not celebrate this Bill, but rather mourn the loss of the chance of taking up equal challenge against anyone and prove that I have become what I am through sheer individual enterprise and grit and not because of my sex.

Then there is the feminism issue. Ever since Madonna donned those cone-shaped dangerously pointed bras and Gloria Steinem pronounced: "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle", feminism has boasted of having achieved most of its goals. Men and women are equal; they have the same rights; both possess the same abilities, blah, blah, blah... Now, has feminism won the battle- and lost the war? If not, why does it need a Women Reservation Bill-a crutch to support itself and a rickety one at that?

I, a man, mourn for you, feminism.

TEACH FOR MANIPUR

There is a programme in the Unites States from which I hope we can draw inspiration and emulate, provided there is a political will or a committed NGO which can dream and act.

Teach for America recruits thousands of graduate student toppers from prestigious colleges and universities and induct them in schools in the poorest and the most remote areas where the students' performance is extremely low. It's the opposite of model school concept, where we bring together the most qualified teachers to teach good students found through entrance test with the objective of creating a demonstration effect so that other schools with fewer wherewithals and average inputs can emulate.

In the Teach for America programme-part volunteer service, part remunerative- the young and the most brilliant grads from such prestigious universities as Yale, Stanford, etc. get to see first-hand the conditions of the underprivileged and poor Americans, mostly blacks, and teach them in their classrooms. It's not the money, but the satisfaction and the idealistic desire to give back to the society that drives many Teach for America volunteers, most of whom are from fortunate backgrounds.

So why not an NGO start doing something along this line in Manipur? Similarly, in the health sector too, we can send the young and energetic MBBS students to compulsorily serve in rural and remote areas of Manipur for a year or so as part of their course or internship programmes.

It's just a thought and I am sure a person having a more imaginative mind than I do can come with far more practical and appealing ideas.

Ranjan Yumnam

* Ranjan Yumnam, presently an MCS probationer, is a frequent contributor to e-pao.net. He can be contacted at ranjanyumnam(at)gmail(dot)com. This article was webcasted on March 21, 2010.