Backing the Bill

India nearly created history on March 10 when the Rajya Sabha or the Council of States passed the women’s bill to reserve 33 per cent of the seats for women in the State Assemblies and Lok Sabha. The reason I use the word ‘nearly’ is because we, as a nation, are presently far from creating history in righting the gender imbalance.

The bill was passed in the Upper House, but not without its share of political theatrics. The two-day drama did culminate in the passing of the bill by an overwhelming two-third majority (read 186 ayes against 1 nae) and in the suspension of seven members, who had earlier disrupted proceedings. The previous day saw unruly scenes with members tearing up the bill and even attempting to attack Chairman Hamid Ansari.

Unfortunately, there is really little to rejoice about at this moment. Fourteen long years after women’s reservation was first mooted, the bill finally saw some glimpse of hope in the Rajya Sabha on the occasion of the 100th International Women’s Day.

The women’s reservation debate has several layers to it. The contentious bill, if passed in its present form, will no doubt be a milestone and restore, to some extent, gender balance. The presence of women in Parliament may not dramatically alter the status of women in our society – at least not immediately. It may not suddenly prevent our daughters from being killed as foetuses, families from being harassed over dowries, girls’ education taking equal precedence or negate gender stereotypes. But surely, there is hope for gradual change.

Unfortunately, the bill seems to be more about earning political brownie points rather than about women’s empowerment, which is the need of the hour. India’s so-called leaders can scream themselves hoarse about our democratic ways and about being the world’s largest democracy. The fact is that we are the largest democracy by virtue of our population, 1.13 billion officially, rather than owing it to our democratic conventions. It is, of course, to our credit we are a vibrant democracy and have rejected any other form of government. But there is really no reason to pat ourselves on our back, if democracy means tearing up bills or expressing dissent violently.

Watching live proceedings of the two days in the Rajya Sabha, I was far from horrified. Angry parliamentarians flinging microphones, throwing chairs, chanting slogans, staging protests or disrupting proceedings is not an unfamiliar sight in democratic India. We Indians are too accustomed to such outbursts and misdemeanour. But, there really is no excuse for such behaviour and there is no reason for us to accept it any longer.

Also, political parties have already staked their claim for the success of the bill in the upper house. On the one hand, there is the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) that has asserted the bill to be a realisation of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s dream, and on the other hand is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which said that its numbers had done the trick in the upper house. Then there are the other parties taking equal credit –for preventing it from being passed. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Janata Dal (JD) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), led by the Yadav trio, have vehemently opposed the bill claiming it to be elitist and one which would sideline women from lower-castes and minority religious groups. In short, they are demanding reservation within reservation.

A glance at the data compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union might give us a little reality check and put things in perspective. India presently is competing with Benin, a country in West Africa, for the 99th spot among 187 countries in the number of seats allocated to women. We have 59 seats or 10.8 per cent for our women, figuring way below some of our neighbours including Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who incidentally are nascent democracies when compared to our 63 years record.

The next biggest hurdle is the bill’s litmus test in the 552-strong Lok Sabha. Once it is eventually cleared by the house, it has to be signed by the president, after which it has to be ratified by all 28 states. This could well take over a year. What remains to be seen is if the UPA will be able to hold on to its allies and convince them to see the end of this, or if it will wilt under political pressure.

For all those championing the cause of women’s equality in India, the harsh reality is, there really is a long way to go. So let’s hold our breath till the bill actually becomes a law and until 33 per cent of the seats are really filled by women. There is still time for history to be created.