My discourses in social media on women reservation might have attracted the attention of our women folks and who knows some might have reluctantly compromised the fact. To make myself clear, I neither support not oppose the WR but would rather share the following opinion:
1. Why not we try to understand the social and traditional position of our tribal Hohos and respect our biological identity?
2. Why did the Govt of Nagaland introduce and adopted the Nagaland Municipal Act to be rejected and again recently approved by the Govt ? This shows that the govt of the day is very incapable !! Why was there no mass based consultations from the very beginning? And why blindly follow the one-sided and controversial advices of a few to attain the selfish interest of the party in power ?
3. Why not the Govt balance the advantages and disadvantages of the Act (in the present format) and justify to the people that there are no contradictions with Art 371A and therefore appropriate for its implementation?
4. What are the merits of women reservation in Nagaland?
5. (If) there is gender inequalities and discrimination due to some rigid Naga customary practices, isn’t it proper to first review and rectify our customary wisdom before legislation to that effect be exercised if necessary?
Naga customary and traditional practices had evolved through the ages with our great great grandparents who were pagans, animists and illiterate and therefore we cannot deny that there may exist some flaws including gender discrimination inappropriate to the contemporary context. However, the present generation survives on the blessings of the Gospel which is through Christ and as such, gender discrimination is a foreign wisdom unheard even in the Bible.
For better understanding, if we refer to the genesis of the universe Biblically, God blessed Adam & Eve in the garden of Eden to live together, rule and fill the world together. Hence, in absence of any one of the genders, the definition of humanity is lost and God’s purpose of his beautiful creation remains elusive...even more so Naga women enjoy equal respect and prominence in Naga society ever since the advent of Christianity. Nevertheless, if our adorable womenfolk can frankly say “we are lower human being” or can justify that they have been deliberately deprived of their humanitarian privileges, we the brave men folks should regretfully retrospect our shortcomings and graciously extend the required reservation quota so that together we can make this planet more beautiful and live happily for the glory of the Almighty God of the vibrant Naga people. As a goodwill gesture to our beloved women by the intellectual men folk, we should not only agree to 33% WR in ULBs but we must also cordially invite our women to jointly occupy berths in the Parliament as well as in the Legislative Assembly by providing special reservation quota and courteously slice out one-third of the seats for them. Under such circumstances, women would deserve the highest honour in all political and social spectrums. The sitting male members should be happy enough to accept it as a privilege to honour our magnanimous womenfolk and graciously pave way for a sound democratic alliance.
The Naga community as a whole is rather proud to proclaim that we have world class female counterparts of our own blood who are ashamed to say “we survive on female gender concessions” but with dignity uphold “the able should lead for whom even Mt Everest isn’t a challenge but sky is the limit” and we praise God for that. If my daughter is inferior or weaker than others, I as a father would never compromise to any concessions but I would rather encourage her to do better by putting more efforts because she is the jewel of my soul!!
Regretfully, I guess that trying to settle this issue on gender privilege quota and certain likely hiccups in the Nagaland Municipal Act will only shower unabated avalanche of enmity destroying the fabric of peace, unity and brotherhood in Nagaland.
