Equality between genders and equal treatment to women may still be a point to discuss. There are many in the Indian system (!) who will oppose the mandatory sharing power with women. The bill was tabled long back in 1996 in the Parliament. At that time the bill was snatched and torn in the house. Afterwards, due to poor political will and unstable governments the bill could never see the light of the day.
Yesterday when the bill was tabled there was a fort formation around the bill presenting minister Bhardwaj. The strong women members and some equally strong men members of the upper house of the Parliament encircled the minister. The physical fight took place between the members such as Abu Azami and others from JDU on one side and the Congress MPs on the other. As usual, in commotion the bill was tabled and the house was adjourned sine dine. The women Member of Parliament celebrated out of the Parliament house forgetting the party politics.
Many of us also celebrated this event writing columns. However we must not forget that the real challenge is yet to come. The bill has just moved the first stage and yet to clear almost 13 different steps in each of the house. Mind well, these houses are full of those highly enlightened people who are now crying for the dalit, muslim and OBC women. The plight of Indian politicians, to be precise those males who come from the BIMARU states (Bihar, MP, Rajasthan, UP) and others who subscribe to the same school of thought are worried about their future.
A person who is denied access to power for ages, if given power ones, the person in most cases do not want to give it up. This is something haunting the people like Sharad Yadav and Abu Azami. The rascals who are opposing the bill under the pretext of dalit, muslim and OBC women's rights first at least recognise the rights of women and then talk about the niche segments within the categories. A fact to recognise, the states from which the bill is being opposed are far behind in sex ratio, literacy rates among women and far worse when it comes to controlling the atrocities on women and overall women welfare. The state like Maharashtra has already proved that the reservations for women have delivered well and have improved the life of the public at large.
The bill has to go through, today, tomorrow, next month, next year or the year next. The real challenge begins when it comes to implementation of the proposed and passed. There are instances noted that the women rulers are accompanied by their family members and all decisions are taken by the family members. To avoid such messy affairs there is a need of true empowerment of women by providing them with better access to education and means of living along with the reservation in the mainstream politics. |
