Political Quota for Women

It was amusing to see our national media singing a political raga and standing behind the bill reserving 33% of parliament seats for females. When Rajya Sabha passed it yesterday (attempt to pass it on world women’s day was a political gimmick), the media and the government celebrated the move as if some great contribution has been made towards women’s rights and cause. If we think about it, there is hardly anything done yet.

Democracy can’t work with symbolism and political gimmicks. Given what the women politicians have done so far – be it Sonia Gandhi who used her status as a widow as an entry pass in politics, or Mayawati and Jayalalita whose are names synonym with corruption, or Uma and Mamta as political hysterics, or Sheila Dixit who sits on chair while her state makes worse records of crime against women everyday, women politicians have proven remarkably nothing of note. If we go back in time then we had Indira Gandhi as our first elected dictator. I believe we have seen enough of politics in India to come to the conclusion that women politicians are as corrupt, as weak, as brainless, as power-hungry and as self-obsessed as their male counterparts; if not more.

India or Indian women would gain nothing just because there are more sarees than kurtas in the parliament – unless the ground realities of politics change.

The government which virtually forced an achiever like Kiran Bedi out of her badge doesn’t deserve the rights to self-glorify itself as one fighting for the women’s cause. The party (INC) and the man (Rajiv Gandhi) who decided to appease some minority mullahs at the cost of women’s rights (Shah Bano case) don’t deserve the right to be called pro-women. The women who entered and thrived in politics due to their husbands and fathers (living or deceased) don’t deserve to be called representatives of new-age women.

When real democracy fails, politicians ask us to settle for symbols. This women’s political quota bill is one of the same. We should not rejoice, but feel sad about our state of politics.

- Rahul