Women representatives or rubber stamps!

Minna Zutshi

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 19

Politics is a gendered field. Women enter politics and even get elected as the representatives of the people, but they seldom exercise their rights. Women (leaders) are expected to stay in the background while the male members of the family bask in their ‘borrowed glory’. During the election time women candidates are feted, but once the elections are over, it is over to the male members of the woman’s family – either the father or brother or husband assumes the charge of responsibility and arrogates power to himself. The women who win elections are reduced to rubber stamps. This is the saddest part of our democratic system. These are the observations of a group of women from Dakha village here. These women are home makers and despite their bitter-sweet experiences with political processes, they believe that exercising their right to vote is an empowering option. “We are convinced that only through the democratic process can our socio-economic systems be transformed,” says Kamaljeet Kaur.

Every time the elections are held, there is some initial reluctance to be part of the polling process, says Amarjeet Kaur. “There is a degree of resentment that our leaders have failed us. But finally, our optimism wins and our faith in democracy reasserts itself. Hope sustains us. This hope is the hope for better future for our children. It is sad that we are ‘sending’ our children abroad as we fear that they may fall prey to drugs if they stay back.”

These very articulate women from Dakha village believe that political leaders should have certain eligibility criteria, including certain minimum educational qualifications. “When all professions have eligibility criteria, why are political leaders given special concessions on this count? It is appalling to see barely literate politicians taking decisions that affect lakhs of people,” says Surinder Pal Kaur.