Political empowerment and Tribal Women Of Manipur
- Part 1 -

Dr. Benjamin Gangmei *

Of all empowerments with their importance, political empowerment may be considered more important one. The empowerment is particularly meant for participating in political decision-making process. And the process normally affects society.

The reason is that the process has to do with power or influence which can make others behave in line with other's wishes. And women political empowerment has to do with political influence of women and the institutionalisation of their participation in political decision-making process.

Political empowerment of tribal women is importantly viewed on two counts:
It will be a direct challenge to all traditional institutions where female representation is denied or absent.
And the tribal society shall certainly experience new taste of women political leadership. The society has been under male political leadership for centuries.

The fundamental problems confronting the political empowerment initiative are characterised by lack of awareness, influence of women and the attitude of menfolk, etc. What has largely inhibited tribal women in their empowerment efforts is that majority of women is not aware of the "opportunity of equal access to political structures" provided in the Indian Constitution.

Lack of awareness is owing to exclusive traditional practice and dependency. In tribal political institutions man exclusively occupied all offices. True there is negligible exception to this system. This culture normally in modern society has created a natural inhibition to women from participating in political process. And lack of awareness is also owing to women's tendency of dependency on menfolk for political activities. Most often women failed to venture on the participation in political process.

Then another fundamental problem to women empowerment initiative in the society is the influence of women is marginal. That is, the political right women exercised is not perfectly in their own right but most often they do it under the pressure of others.

The tribal women, as stated above, have the tendency of depending on men, and the women political activists are comparatively less in the society. So, their marginal influence coupled with dependency tendency and numerical minority of women, make the empowerment initiative difficult to push forward.

Then comes the attitude of menfolk to women political empowerment. This attitude is characterised by neglect and discouragement. The neglect is both tacit and express held in the situation where men political activists out-number women political activists. Moreover, the former are more politically active and assertive.

And the discouragement is both traditional and long popularity of male political role. The former is that women had no place in political institutions in the past. While this culture has declined in modern society its vestige present to some extent is discernible in the assertion of male members for political right. And the male political role is, as of now, more readily accepted in tribal Christian society.

The fundamental problems described above have created no conducive atmosphere for political empowerment initiative in the society. In fact, tribal empowerment activists have not been as vocal as their counterparts do elsewhere in other states. This shows that majority of tribal women still fails to assert their political empowerment.

And the conservative attitude of men to women political empowerment is still expressive in the society. Both the sexes should be of necessity changed their attitude to women empowerment issue.

On the part of menfolk the empowerment should be viewed as necessary change in power structure. And women should also take it as one of the main parts of their quest for gender equity and equality.

In the study of women political empowerment brief discussion on women political life of major tribes like

• the Mizos,
• the Thadous,
• the Paites,
• the Hmars,
• the Marings,
• the Tangkhuls,
• the Maos,
• the Zeliangrongs,
• the Anals etc.