And so, just like that, the chief minister of Nagaland has announced – during a state level watershed conference organized by the department of Land Resources – that the state government will conduct elections to the urban local bodies under Nagaland Municipal Act 2001, by reserving 33% of seats to women. Notwithstanding the flat and low-key frugality with which the news was delivered by our chief minister, it represents an extremely significant step for our Naga women in their fight for liberation and emancipation from generations of inversion. The news must stir jubilation all across our land, especially among our Naga women.
Yes, war was declared a long time ago. When the Nagaland Municipal Act was passed in 2005 without any reservation for women, the state government was taken to court by a Naga woman. Since then, it has come to take the nature of an all-out, no holds barred fistfight between our Naga women and the state government (along with the apex male-only tribal organizations of Nagaland). So yes, this represents a victory to our Naga women in every sense. But that is not to say that the war has been won yet.
One only needs to read the passage that follows the announcement made by the chief minister, in the news reports, to understand why the battle has yet to be won. According to the chief minister, Nagaland has not been able to draw the annual development funds granted by New Delhi for urban local bodies because of the “long battle for approval of 33% reservation”. So the rationale (if indeed it can be termed so) is clear. Not because it has finally decided to recognize the rights of our women but because we need money from Delhi. More than anything else, it suggests that a greater battle still awaits our Naga women.
The policy of reservation for women has been replicated with success across the world – bringing gender equity, especially in decision making bodies. We only have to look at our neighbours. Tripura has introduced 50% reservation for women in municipalities, and Assam has proposed to replicate it. Arunachal Pradesh has 33% reservation for women in all Panchayats. And Mizoram has successfully completed the first tenure of women reservation.
We must be reminded once again, at this juncture, that even before that Nagaland Municipal Act of 2001, there were Naga women nominated by the state government into town committees. One such woman, Abeiu Khezhie, is currently heading the Naga Mothers’ Association. She even served as the first vice chairperson of Kohima Town Committee, after being elected by her own peers. So the presence of Naga women in urban local bodies is not without precedence.
Women, more than men, have come to be associated with the voice of sanity. For so long, by keeping that voice of sanity and conscience in exile, men have soiled the very idea of politics and leadership. Now that the doors have been opened, we can only hope that this marks the return of sanity – not just to Naga politics, but to our wider consciousness. If those women who are elected to our urban bodies ends up participating in the darker arts of politics that our men have mastered, it would defeat the very idea of reservation. Thus, for everyone’s sake, be the keeper of our conscience. And the voice of sanity.
