HaindavaKeralam - 'I am not for the 33percent reservation of women in Parliament'

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'I am not for the 33percent reservation of women in Parliament'
11/03/2010 21:08:26  Dr Mrs Hilda Raja

It was shocking for a few women when I told them that I am not for the 33percent reservation of women in Parliament. Knowing my firm stand on woman's issue this came as a shock to them. Not only today on those Women's Day right down from 1996 when as a speaker/chief guest I have addressed meetings. I used to be wary to broach the topic but when questioned I had to be truthful. I knew that it was unpalatable to most of the women audience.

What are my reasons?

   1. What is so sanctimonious about the figure 33%?This is not the subsidy given by banks for the SCs and OBCs under the IRDP. I just cannot comprehend how the politicians who consider themselves champions of women's empowerment picked up the 33percent.What is the logic? Why not 50%.Does it mean women representation in Parliament will be capped at 33percent? Till how long? Then will there be a need to bring in another amendment to remove that? If one is to go by gender breakup, women form more than 50 percent of the population.

   2. How can Parliament be bend on making Unconstitutional matters constitutional by three fourth of the members voting for it. So if a day comes when ¾ of the members vote the Constitution as unconstitutional will it become valid? It is clearly stated that discrimination on the basis of gender is unconstitutional so what are these so called champions of women voicing and voting for-something that the Founding Fathers put in black and white-Equality â€“irrespective of gender and religion. Religious equality has gone under the carpet with the Ministry of Minority affairs sitting over a budget and with a PM stating that Muslims have the first claims to development and its resources.

   3. Does more women in Parliament mean more power to women? Does it proportionately increase the empowerment of women on the streets-the working women, those who today are struggling with a hand to mouth existence So what does an increase of 33 percent of women MPs mean? There are 61 women MPs in Parliament today. We hardly hear them take part in meaningful debates-Except for Brinda Karat, Mamta and Sushma Suraj. Even Mrs Sonia Gandhi sits like a sphinx in the front row. Twice MP like Priya Dutt has not opened her mouth in Parliament. So more women in Parliament means -more debates-more issues of women will be raised and aspirations of women and their empowerment will be handed over on a platter?

   4. Empowerment does not flow from above - Not that empowerment of the ordinary women will not take place. It will, but this will be a block. Strange it may sound but an incisive analysis will prove. The elite women are the ones who will make it to the Parliament at this point of time. Those with political clout and with money Even today right from the President of India, to the Speaker power has come to them through their fathers. Every single case except a couple of MPs fall in this category. Will the 33% not be a repeat of this?

   5. Not even developed countries where women have more empowerment have this kind of a perception to link empowerment of women to their representation in Parliament.

      6. By achieving this 33% a false sheen is given to the women in India-Still slogging away at half the wages of men, and suffering from economic dependency, still oppressed by dowry, discriminated, still unwanted and hence rampant female feticide and infanticide, still unsafe in their work places et al

7. Personhood of woman in India is not even recognized. Hence in all the governmental forms the motherâ€™s name as parent does not suffice. The fatherâ€™s alone gives

      legitimacy. Even for an adult woman either her fatherâ€™s name and or husbandâ€™s name is a must. All these are indicators that a woman cannot and is not

perceived as a person-independent. She stands as a daughter of so and so and a wife of so and so and a mother of so and so that brings and defines her status.

8.      Here comes a legislation to complete that dependency syndrome-she needs to be cocooned in a ˜Reserved' constituency-a safe place to move up to. It must be borne in mind that Reservation business has not be the solution-it continues making people backward and more backward and dependent. Now the women will be caught in the same net.

9          It is an exploitation of women because in the World Development index such a 33% women MPs will push India higher than most of the developed countries-which is contrary to the ground reality .It is in no way a reflection of the ground reality and hence women are being used to boost the ego of the most powerful woman as though under her patronage Indian women have been empowered. This is a complete faked up, morphed picture of the whole empowerment struggle of women in India.

10       A plea to the media-both electronic and print-spare the women from your sound bytes and write-ups on how women have achieved empowerment through this legislation. It is a farce and a regression. No empowerment can take place in reservations and certainly not in the magic number of 33%. It will be like pouring oil in burning fire.

11      When Mrs Sonia Gandhi supported the rise in fuel price she hit hard at the women and with one body blow put her down With the PM -the great economist stating that a rise in fuel price will not necessarily increase the index of food he was taking an anti-woman stand. Because it they who grapple with the cooking the food for the family. And because till date the majority of the women eat the last in the family and that what is left .Does the PM and Mrs Sonia Gandhi realize how the majority women cannot afford ordinary food grains-dals, cooking oil, vegetables and here are our honorable the MPs taking of empowerment of women through the 33 percent reservation. They are even unable to perceive the aspirations of the ordinary women-to feed their children, to meet their everyday needs, and their other survival inputs. Who sits in Parliament and how many sit is not the proposition. But how many have the empathy, the understanding the courage to stand by them is the question.

12      Mrs Sonia Gandhi is not affected by the fuel price because she does not have a car-all cars are at her disposal for nothing. How the fuel price has a cascading effect on everything.Today be it the vegetable vendor, the provision shopkeeper when asked why the prices are steadily increasing the fingers are pointed at the budget. Women are struggling to keep the fires at the hearth burning - and those who sit in ivory towers think that accommodating more women in the ivory tower is EMPOWERMENT. Poor Indian women - cry my sisters for this great drama of deception.

Dr Mrs Hilda Raja

Vadodara.

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SBalasundar 26/03/2010 23:34:54	No 33% Resrvation for Eves in our legislatures! Sir, I applaud the version of Dr.Hilda Raja from Vadodra in her presentation of the Reservation for women!.As on this day (27th March, '10),Sonia Gandhi is credited by the TV news people,saying that the government will go ahead with the 33% resrvation for woman: for god knows what for,this urgency! The re-introduction of the Bill in Rajya Sabha itself, according to this writer is faulty. Apparently,they(UPA) have not consulted or made a consensus of the political parties and the members(nominated)concerned. They seem to have hovered round the BJP leader Sushama Swaraj,- a known votary for this move-and made the gameplan,which was supported by another firebrand like Brinda Karat. There they succeeded in pushing it through the BJP support but UPA's leadership claimed its credit! This is ,backdoor management done at the behest of one MP in the UPA Ruling bench called Sonia Maino Ghandy( Nay 'Gandhi!'). Aburd it is. The nation was reeling not with the pressure of woman's presence in Indian legislature.Secondly,Ministers like Mamta Banerjee opposed the move. Even Mayawati another ex MP and now CM of UP,asked her supporter MPS to abstain from voting. The Yadavs are stoutly against hasty legislation of this type. Let it be asked, who will take responsibility of making the Parlaiment and other Sabhas,a quarreling centre where not only "whistle may be blowed but arrogance of women members may lead to unruly behaviour of MPs further.! Queens like Sonia Maino or a la "Bandit Queen"(say,late ex- SP woman MP) cannot just sit and speak ,debate or vote for our progressive legislations. The move needs discussions and debate. It's not child's play to be ignored.Lastly , I would suggest Arun Shourie's work "Against Reservation" for any concerned Indian to read and understand!. 5
Ganesh 13/03/2010 09:58:00	an anti climax To begin with,the columnist seems to think that 33% reservation for women implies that the remaining 67% are reserved for men.It is not so.WOmen can contest in the 67% general category also. FOr those who think that 33% is too much,I would say that it is too less considering the number of female sycophants especially of khangress waiting on the sidelines. For a truly progressive women who have pride in their achievement of being self made,this is an anti climax.After all for the weaker sex why do we need reservation in the parliament?.Is it a wrestling or boxing contest that goes on inside it?.I would say,women cannot claim to be truly progressive until they oppose such largessee which is demeaning to them.In that case why do we have separate sections for women in mind games like Chess or cards? 5
K.Venugopal 12/03/2010 22:53:02	Psychological benefits. Reservations may not be required in an ideal situation, just like hospitals might not be required in an ideal situation where everyone is healthy. But we have to take into account reality and the more hospitals the better would society be. Similarly, reservation is not a concept that has come out of vacuum. There is something like history and histories largely have predictable trajectories. However, it is man's experience that the trajectory of history, whether medical or social, can be changed. Our history says that certain sections of society were oppressed in certain ways. Reservation was suggested as a way of leveling the playing field. 60 years of experimentation in caste-based social reservations may not have produced ideal results and may have often produced counter-productive results. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that a psychological break-through was achieved and once oppressed communities have now the confidence to stake their claim in the sunlight of equality. Facts and figures can almost prove or disprove anything. But the psychological benefits, often intangible but real nevertheless, are difficult to quantity. Women's reservation is an idea whose time has come or even come late in the Indian context. Let us have it. Let us support its passage in Parliament and Assemblies and see it as law. Only, we must also ensure that the law would provide for any irregularities and ambiguities to corrected in the due course of the Bill’s existence in the statute books. 5
Hary Nambiar 12/03/2010 07:58:43	The idea is to create a subservient majority to induct the "Yuvaraja" as Prime Minister Women have a right to equal participation in social, economic and political policy making in a democracy. However, are there as many women ready to participate in the political process? There are hundreds of thousands of brilliant women in all fields of life in India. However, their political participation has been negligible. Few women who are in politics at this time have shown courage and willingness to think independently. For example, we have women like Mamta Banerji, Mayavathi, Jayalalithaa, Ambika Soni and Jayanti Natarajan. Are they leaders who have courage and willingness to look impartially and look towards the future of the Indian nation? India needs leaders with courage, foresight, and independence to analyze problems of the nation and their solutions. Most of our women leaders entered politics and tag behind arrogant incompetent and irresponsible male leaders. Those who are currently in politics got in there through their connections to some such blah blahs. One woman leader who could be considered an exception is Brinda Karat. I have noted that Mrs. Karat is not only brilliant, but also farsighted, principled and courageous. However, I don’t like her party’s political philosophy in respect of its industrial policy, international relations and anti Hindu prejudice. Apparently this policy has a reason, which is to ensure a congress majority subservient to the Congress “high command” in the next Lok Sabha election, which would positively support the induction of the “charming,” but the ignorant political “yuva raja” of the of the Congress Party in the Prime Minister’s chair. One should know how much prejudiced we are in favor of “fair skin!” 5
Hary Nambiar 12/03/2010 07:55:24	We need courageous leaders with willingness to think and act independently Such a move would involve amending the Constitution with more than a simple majority. If both Houses of Parliament passes a resolution by two thirds majority and it is ratified by two thirds of the State Legislatures by two thirds majority, it could be considered to represent the will of the people. I would welcome such a move. However, it should be introduced gradually like 10% each in successive elections so that all political parties would have the opportunity to recruit, train and introduce competent women to take the reigns of the nation. Nowhere else in the world there is such a reservation. I agree with the MP from Gorakhpur. India has numerous serious problems which needs urgent attention of a competent government. Of course there is a government. That government is inattentive and incompetent to deal with the problems that need urgent solution. All that it is doing is diverting public attention to irrelevant issues. The government has the support of the opportunistic media, which is guided by vested interests and utopian ideas. Once it is introduced, there will be a “women legislators lobby,” an “association of film professionals in the legislature,” a “Muslim women legislators’ caucus,” a “Christian Women leaders fellowship,” a “Hindi speaking women legislators’ alliance,” a “SC/ST women legislators’ conference,” an “OBC women legislators’ morcha,” etc, each one of them focused on their parochial interests, rather than national interests. They would be guided by male leaders who could be identified in today’s politics. Besides, this process would make sure that women from forward class communities are unrepresented in the legislature. Without the representation of those women, it would be like the government of “Statue Builders” and “Satyagrahis” with nothing, but vengeance, economic disruption, opportunism, and all kinds of blah blah without content. 5
S.Raguraman 12/03/2010 07:30:11	Reservation of Parliamentary seats for women As Mrs.Hilda Raj points out, what is the sanctity about the figure 33? If really there has to be gender equality, let the no. of seats be doubled and let each constituency elect one male MP and one female MP. Alternately reduce the number of constiturncies to half of what they are now and apply the same formula i.e. one male and one female MP from each of the larger consituency. Only men should vote for the male seat and women for the female seat. 5
Amit Bhadhuri,Ex-Officer,CISF 12/03/2010 03:46:25	UPA is conning the nation Bravo Dr. Hilda Raja for speaking out the absolute truth. There is no country in the world where one can see such a madness of reservations and this culture needs to be stopped. Women's reservation bill will only help the dynastic politicians. BJP has been fooled by UPA. This bill must be stopped at any cost. 5
Ram 12/03/2010 03:20:46	My perception Dear Ms.Raja, I request you to analyse the 2 positive aspects that I perceive about this legislation. 1) India has accepted that "reservations" are solutions for all problems in similar lines to say that "Brahmins are irresponsible for all the ills of the Hindu society". If a political party has to do a favour to any one community, then the immediate offer is some form of reservation. Today the entire politics revolves around "reservation". In this context, Women are given easy way to the parliament and other legislative bodies. Most of our common women (of the "Aam Aurat" class similar to Aam Aadmi) are reluctant to participate in politics, leave alond contesting elections. Contesting elections is only reserved (without any legislation) for people with money power and muscle power. The Aam Aadmi has no access to real democracy and no political party will give him seat to contest. I see this bill similar to the MGR's idea of providing "Sathhunavu", i.e. protein food to bring in more children to primary education. out of the 33%, may be 28 % elite candidates may win, but at least some 5 % of "Aam Aurat" may be enthused to participate in politics. 2) I foresee that the (forced) entry of women into politics would reduce the domination of Muscle power in politics. We may see some gentle feminine politics in the future. You must remember that in all the government exams, females lead the results and the male are only lagging behind. It is because the female is less influenced by diversions and distortions than the men. So we may see more focus towards society with less diversions to power politics. We have lived 60 years without this bill and we haven't reached significant heights. Let us have this bill in place for some 15 years and then we will evaluate the effects. 5
Muraleedharan 12/03/2010 00:30:19	Women Bill Thank you Mrs. Hilda Raja for the articles. This bill should be immediately scrapped. Let women come up on their own without begging. 5
Karthik 11/03/2010 22:58:00	Excellent! Kudos to Dr. Hilda Raja for calling a Spade a Spade.We should hope that the situation of Indian women dosent become that of OBCs wherein even after 5 decades we only see more and more castes being added to the lot and not even one removed. 5
Abhilash Nambiar 11/03/2010 21:29:17	This bill is anti-women Here is what this bill tells me. Women are not fit to stand at elections and win by playing by the same rules as everyone else. The democratic system has to be dismantled to accomodate them. Voters men and women cannot be allowed the freedom to elect whom they please. Democracy has no value. 5

"Balagokulam, through its different types of programmes and activities, tries to wake up the divine infant of Nandagokulam, who fills the hearts of the children of Bharath Mata. So, Balagokulam has got a historic mission to accomplish. Let HIM strengthen the children and workers of Balagokulam to march forward with the victory flags of Bharath Mata. Their leader is none other than Sri Krishna, HIMSELF"

Poojaniya H.V. Sheshadriji