Women in Indian Politics

Saloni Palkar FY BAMC

I am a girl who has been born and brought up in the post-independence era where I believe, I have been quite naïve towards the gender inequalities that still happen around us, in our society. I am sure that this inequality has dialed down after independence. But it has not completely disappeared even after 75 years of independence. Women's representation has increased compared to the olden days, but it has not increased to the level it was expected to be. This becomes an even greater issue when we talk about women's representation in the legal system, on which the democratic country runs.

If we look back into our history, it has been observed that women have somehow or the other played an indirect or even a direct role in the exercise of political power. For example, in Mahabharata, Draupadi plays an active role in the debate about whether the Pandavas should go to war or not. Also in ancient Tamil Sangam Poetry, we can see evidence of women ambassadors, advisors, and even bodyguards and throne guards under Chola rule. Later in the Mughal period, Babur was taught warfare and diplomatic affairs by his mother. But even though women played unofficial roles in policy-making and diplomacy, they were rarely given official opportunities in the political realm.

Indira Gandhi is believed to be the beginning of women’s voice, motivation, and representation in the changing Indian political system. She was one of the few women in power across the world back in the 60s, who took charge and changed the path of Indian politics. Being the woman in control at such a high post was not easy in those days. People would laugh at you, judge you and try to pull you down whenever they would get the chance. They would remind you of the other “womanly” profession just because of your femininity. “It’s just simpler for women to handle her responsibilities at home and leave the politics to men”, is what is normally said. But we had Indira Gandhi, a woman who not only took the charge of the nation but became the Prime Minister which seemed like an unachievable thing at that time.

Today, to combat gender inequality in politics, the Indian Government has instituted reservation of seats in local government. In 1993, a constitutional amendment was passed in India that called for a random one-third of the village council leader or sarpanch, positions in gram panchayat to be reserved for women. There is also a long-term plan to extend this reservation to parliament and legislative assemblies. It is surprising how we have a stereotypical mindset towards local bodies when they were the first ones to introduce an initiative for women's representation in the political arena. Today women make up just about 13% of the Indian Parliament, while the global average is around 20 to 25%. It has been 25 years since the bill for the reservation of 33% of seats for women in Parliament was introduced, but it is yet to be passed.

There have also been a few challenges to women’s participation in Indian politics. Martha C. Nussbaum states that "In the larger society, violence and the threat of violence affects many women's ability to participate actively in many forms of social and political relationship, to speak in public, to be recognized as dignified beings whose worth is equal to that of others." Although the Constitution of India removed gender inequalities among caste and gender, discrimination continues to be a widespread barrier to women's political participation. From what women wear to how they drape their sarees to how they talk and express themselves, everything comes under scrutiny.

The question remains, what is the position of women in Indian politics? The answer is both big and small. On one hand, India ranks lower than UAE in terms of the number of women in Parliament. On the other hand, India has elected 59 women as Members of Parliament, the highest since independence. Therefore, the concept is still a blur to us but is something that can be worked on by increasing women's empowerment and equality in our society.