By Aasia Hassan
Post abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir on August 05, 2019, a series of events were witnessed by the newly created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. One of the shocking policies of the central government was the detention of the political leaders of the erstwhile state. The gist of these detentions was to curb any voices against the BJP led central government’s decision on Article 370, 35A of the Indian Constitution. As it is said that time heals all wounds and gradually people tend to accept the change, the same approach was adopted by the Central government thereby releasing these former political leaders one by one.
The prominent among these leaders were Dr Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Bureaucrat turned politician Dr. Shah Faesal among others whose long terms of detention were justified by the Public Safety Act (PSA) against them and then finally released. When it comes to August 05, 2019 almost every Kashmiri has their fair share of betrayal, but somewhere down this lane, we seem to have forgotten about Ms Mehbooba Mufti- the President of one of the prominent parties of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir namely Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). There is no denying the fact that Ms Mufti holds a pivotal position in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. She is the first and the last women Chief minister of the erstwhile autonomous state of Jammu and Kashmir apart from being a Member of Parliament. She was also detained under the PSA but has not been released till date. The question which arises is that, why this differential treatment? How she is a bigger threat when the same BJP led central government formed a coalition with her Peoples democratic party back in April 2016?
The discrimination against women in political institutions is not something new, but the disturbing fact is it is still prevalent even in the 21st century. Women in government are underrepresented in most, if not all, countries of the world. In most countries, including India, women have inadequate opportunities in social participation, especially in striving for political rights and power in the government. According to a report published in April 1, 2019, women make up less than 23 percent of parliamentarians, while men makeup more than 77 percent leaving a more than 50 percent gender gap. Attitudes towards women candidates are still largely characterized by deeply ingrained stereotypes and these stereotypes are often used by opponents to question women’s capabilities.
The constitution of India attempts to remove gender inequalities by banning discrimination based on sex and class by way of various provisions including reserving elected positions for women. If we have a look at the India’s 17th Lok Sabha elections, we see that it got the highest number of women elected since independence i.e. a total number of 78 women out of 542 seats of Lok Sabha. This number amounts to 14 percent which is still quite less than the proposed 33 percent. Out of this small number of women member parliamentarians ironically only 3 were given Cabinet Ministerial positions. This gender disparity is seen everywhere in our society. We have had a women prime minister, a women president, some women chief ministers of States, but till date we have had no women Chief Justice of India. Till date only 8 women have served as the Judges of the Supreme Court, and at present out of the 34 Judges, only 3 are women.
The national parties like BJP and INC portray the idea of reservation on paper, when they have hardly managed to stand by their own words when it comes to giving equal chance to women to participate in decision making process. To quote Mr. Modi back in 2013 when he was campaigning as a prime ministerial candidate, he said, “Men and women must have same rights, Should there be discrimination against women in J&K? Shouldn’t this injustice stop?” and the ground reality is before our eyes.
This gender bias is so deeply ingrained in our system that the policy makers don’t even consider that they equally need women to make decisions for the society of which women hold an equal share. The fact that they think they do not need women is itself part of that bias. Though reservations are an important tool for more women in politics to enter the parliament, a positive enabling environment with gender equality in terms of access and opportunities, distribution of resources are equally important.
Women have the right to be heard, to engage in civil society, vote in elections, to be elected to government offices, serve on boards, take part in any process that affects them, their families and their communities, and in this case to be treated at par with other political prisoners. This can only come through realisation, recognition and demand of the women, by the women and for the women.
The author is an LLM Student at The Indian Law Institute, New Delhi, and can be reached at aashuhassan@gmail.com
