Let’s play it fair & square
The passion with which senior leaders like Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav opposed the idea of giving over 33 per cent of seats in Parliament to women would have been justified if they had led the way in increasing women’s participation in a more democratic manner. But the arguments that we [...]
Helen Clark: A turning point for gender equality
The Asia Pacific region has made impressive progress on many fronts, and seems poised to recover from the global economic downturn more rapidly than other regions. Long term, sustainable progress, however, requires that more support is given to the empowerment of women. Achieving equality for women is not only a laudable goal and a human right. [...]
Suhasini Haidar: Why half the sky is not enough
During the debate in Parliament and outside over the Women's Reservation Bill, many people have referred to quota “success stories” worldwide — proposing that India could gain from the experience of about 40 other countries that have enacted legislation on such reservation for women. In fact, if India were to introduce such reservation by [...]
Judgment reserved
We stand at the cusp of big change — the Rajya Sabha has, in a volatile and momentous session, passed the Women’s Reservation Bill. After 14 years of stop-start, when demands for sub-quotas within the category of “women” for other disadvantaged groups hobbled the bill’s progress, it has finally been set in real motion. As the drama in [...]
Higher choices
The passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday drew attention to the practice of a party whip. The Janata Dal (U) revealed its internal divisions by allowing its MPs to vote according to their conscience. In doing so, the JD(U) cast a light on the extraordinary control party leaderships enjoy in votes to ascertain [...]
Towards women’s equality
We welcome the government’s decision to move the 108th Constitution Amendment Bill to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and elected state legislatures for women. Any form of affirmative action must have two essential characteristics for it to be effective: one, it must not kill the incentive to excel among the beneficiaries, and [...]
Half of half the sky
As the world raised a toast on the 100th International Women’s Day, many women in the Asia-Pacific region raised only a cry of distress. The UN Human Development Report for the region brings out why. The region treats its women badly and ranked at the bottom on issues such as upholding their property rights or protecting them from violence. This [...]
33% better behaved!
Amidst all the debate over the women’s reservation Bill in India’s House of Elders, otherwise known as the Rajya Sabha, the obvious point was not made that enacting the bill would improve parliamentary dignity and decorum by at least 33%. While paying his respects to his Puratchi Thalaivi or Revolutionary Leader J Jayalalithaa, an AIADMK MP [...]
Now to make the Bill work
For 14 long years, the Women’s Reservation Bill has been one of the most controversial and bitterly contested legislations. That emotions about the Bill run high was seen in the unseemly fracas in the Rajya Sabha where it was introduced on Monday. But after all that kerfuffle, on Tuesday, chastened members returned to vote the historic Bill [...]
On ladies, not gents
In the much-vaunted tradition of buddy flicks, the two bad boys of Parliament brought the big guys to their knees, or at least the day’s business in the world’s largest democracy. The Yadav ‘brothers’ or bhaiyyas, if we subscribe to authenticity, were the only people who delivered on International Women’s Day, on their threat that is. [...]