In the Eastern Mirror dated March 10, 2017, the paper itself had an editorial which praised a statement made by Dr. Temsula Ao during the celebration of International Women’s Day at Kohima on March 8th.
The Mirror loves her viewpoint, burying her statement with effusive praise: “Dr. Temsula … comes as a voice of astute reasoning – and more importantly, contextual observation.
“The venerable writer, who is also the chairperson of Nagaland State Commission for Women, hit the bull’s eye when she said: ‘It is futile to expect that this age-old Naga system of patriarchy can be changed or altered overnight just because some other societies have done this, or incorporated that on the strength of some Acts or diktats from the centre.’”
The Mirror closes its editorial with this rationalization for Naga tribal patriarchy: “All things said, it is pertinent to remind ourselves that it is not even two centuries since Naga people were introduced to western education – and all that comes with it. Most of our immediate grandfathers were collecting skulls. On the one hand, we still have villages without schools or teachers in Nagaland, and at the other EXTREME end, we are confronted with issues of women empowerment and the like. It is in this collision between two extremes that we must locate our context.
“Quite tragically, Dr. Temsula has emerged as the only one so far capable of placing this collision of ideas in proper context. Nagaland dearly is in need of sane voices, like that of the venerable professor.” (My emphasis, in capital letters.)
As an opening aside, I ask readers, especially women readers, if you consider the patriarchy you must deal with every day of your life, “at the other extreme end” of issues to be dealt with? I would suggest that, for all of you, it is at the center of your concerns and affects most things in your life. And this is true despite the patronizing and condescending remarks to the contrary by the Eastern Mirror.
But now to the substance. Poor Naga tribal men! Only 200 years and women and men like myself are expecting them to wake up to the second-class treatment with which they treat women. Perhaps the Mirror would like to suggest how long women should wait for the equality that is promised them in the Indian Constitution.
In the Nagaland Post of March 10th, 2017, there is an article by J. Janbemo Humtsoe, which states, in part, “The Central Nagaland Tribes Council (CNTC) issued stern warnings to some youths from expressing their opinions [on the women reservation issue] in the press media, which they (CNTC) believed is ‘to gain cheap publicity and attention’. This is a serious matter and reflects the customary legacy that women and the young should remain mum and simply follow instructions from the elders.”
In most Nagaland state papers on March 10th, 2017, on the front pages, it states, “Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) and the Joint Co-ordination Committee (JCC) have urged upon chief minister Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu to amend/repeal the Nagaland Municipal Act, 2001 [which contains the women’s reservation mandate] by constituting a committee/law commission to recommend amendment or repeal of the above Act within three months and during which, no election to ULBs in Nagaland be held ‘in the best interest of all concerned.’” (This quote is from the Nagaland Post, but all papers carrying this statement use similar words.)
Based on the two paragraphs directly above, it may be another 200 years until Naga male tribals will learn the true definition of “equal.” Dr Temsula suggests that Naga women “go back to our ancient customary and traditional practices,” and show the men the errors in the way they view their treatment of women, “to remove this fallacy [that physical prowess by men should not carry over to jobs that require “intellectual power”] from the minds of our men-folk. That will be a bold step and will test our mental strength. Being bold, however, should never be equated with being aggressive and confrontational.”
The Eastern Mirror, mirroring that last sentence of Temsula, directly above, states, “It is pointless to state that one cannot truly legislate empowerment.”
Both of these last statements are not just wrong, but extraordinarily naïve. The debate in legal and philosophical circles is whether you can legislate “morals,” not “empowerment”; morals in the sense of legalizing drugs or prostitution.
You can most certainly “legislate empowerment.” The classic case, a perfect analogy to the Naga women’s rights issue, is Martin Luther King Jr’s fight for civil rights for black Americans. In the 1960s, in the Southern states, King was hearing the same silly arguments argued here concerning Naga women’s rights: it’s only been 100 years since the emancipation of the slaves after the North won the Civil War, the nation must give the white men and women of the south time to adjust to the fact that blacks were supposed to not just get their freedom from chains and whips, but be allowed to vote, have equal access to buses, hotels, swimming pools, restaurants, public and secondary schools, colleges, etc. The poor white man needs time to learn and adjust.
King understood something that Dr. Temsula and the Eastern Mirror don’t understand. The issue is not respect or love; the issue is power. And people do not voluntarily give up power. It must be taken from those who have it. Naga men may think that they are exceptional human beings, highly moral in relation to other humans on the planet. But that is all myth. They are men and will hold on to power until it is taken from them, and that requires being “aggressive and confrontational.”
King worked with President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy, and black students were walked into white colleges with the protection of soldiers with bayonets! After the assassination of JFK in November of 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forced, with the use of troops, the allowing of blacks to vote at the polls in the South. It was justice at the point of a gun, and it worked.
By using Temsula’s recommended methods, women will be viewed as weak and will accomplish nothing. Naga men need the equality of women forced upon them, and the way to start is with the 33% women’s reservation vote. It is only a start, but it’s something. Anything else is simply appeasement.
