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In news from India’s lawmakers Minister Veerappa Moily tabled a bill this morning that seeks to establish a quota for Women’s seats in Parliament and other assemblies. Amid adamant protests from various groups, the Law Minister tabled the bill. Protesters charged speaker Hamid Ansari’s chair chanting and grabbing at official papers, which promoted an adjournment of the session. The bill, crafted to reserve a third of all parliamentary seats for women, obviously has flaws which some detractors see as unfavorable to some women. The Women’s Reservation Bill, as it is titled, provides reservations for women in Lok Sabha and the state assembly. One problem with the bill is that the law would only benefit some women, while Muslims and OBC women would still remain unprotected. The assembly has already been adjourned twice over similar outbursts. The struggle for equality in India has seen great hurdles overcome in the last few years, but there still remain significant barriers for sub-groups within the main gender, classes and communities. Akhilesh Yadav, President of the Uttar Pradesh state unit of SP had this to say recently: “In case backward class and Muslim women are not included in it (Women’s Reservation Bill), the Samajwadi Party will oppose it and if the government is ready to accept the amendment, we will stand by its decision.” So, a bill which frees Women on the one hand, but keeps minorities within their ranks prisoner on the other, seems neither advisable nor fair in a forward thinking democracy. Women comprise, after all, at least 50 percent of the voting public in India. I am not a supporter of quotas in the first place, but am even less in favor of quotas which are backward thinking. Giving women in India this crumb from the men’s tables of government, is frankly medieval in my view. The Parliament’s PR rating may plummet if minorities gain a foothold.
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