Some of those who voted yes had this to say:
• Nagaland till today has never had a woman legislator or an elected representative of any kind. Even the KMC woman councilor is an appointee, not an elected member. Unless there is reservation, I don’t see any woman representative in Nagaland because politics and governance in Nagaland is only power, guns, money and booze. Not that women can’t play the game, but the men are too scared to loose power. So yes, Women reservation please.
• Its about time, women get some recognition/political say.
• It's not that Naga women are in any way lagging behind, quite the contrary. But a reservation is needed just so that Naga men wake up and start catching up!!
• Though women beat man-folks in many areas women are trampled under the foot sadly by man counter part. After over fifty years of independent there is nill representation in our legislature which means something is wrong. We have women in business than in politics which means something is wrong. WOMEN ARE TOPPERS in many fields but nill in legislature. Women are artificially suppressed by many factors. So unless reservation is forcefully implemented women cannot rise on par with men. Which also means 50% of our talent is lost to social narrow minded, out-dated social evils leading our society to doom.
• Because forget socio arguments. Make this happen. It’s simple.
• Yes, it is only right that women get the opportunity to exercise their power. I am sure the situation would be different if Nagaland had more women in the legislative assembly. For one Kohima will be a much cleaner town and secondly the corruption should be much less than the present.
• Because only through this bill can women stand equal with the men.
• Men are not willing to even share power, leave alone give up power. And this has been the root of the problem as far as gender issues are concerned. How can a society progress when more than half of the population does not have equal rights. This is a serious problem. The Women Reservation Bill is not the answer to the ongoing discrimination against women, and yet because there is so much imbalance, the reservation is needed to empower women so that they can then assert their rights on fair ground.
Some of those who voted no had this to say:
• What is the point of Women Reservation when women themselves do not claim and assert what is due to them. They cannot expect everything in a platter. They have to work and take responsibility for the society. This policy of charity through the Women Bill will only further damage rather than doing good.
• What is the Use of reservation? Women normally talk about equality and standing shoulder to shoulder with man, than why do they need reservation. Earn it not beg and get it. Let them fight and earn their position and not give them free of cost.
• They cannot be compared to the SC and ST who are clearly in the minority and without reservations would find it difficult to get elected. Our largest parties already have women leading them. We cannot force people to vote for women in a democracy. Women have every right to support and elect women candidates even now. And I see no mass scale agitations for women reservations. Reservation should not be the only solution to remove imbalances in society. Why not have reservation for the poor, physically challenged, religious minorities, students etc who are sometimes worse off than women as a whole. Also, what about reservation in education, jobs etc. We clearly cannot have reservations everywhere. We should instead be working to remove all forms of reservation. (I am an ST myself!). The idea of reservations is not only to provide opportunities but also to increase abilities and the latter part is being forgotten. Reservation is only a temporary solution and should be treated as such. Yes, women may be disadvantaged but instead of weakening them more by making them dependent on reservations, we should find other solutions instead of resorting to political gimmicks. And if at all there has to be reservations, it should strictly benefit only the poor and needy and not those who are already in the limelight.
• Nagaland is still at the cradle of civilization to handle such modern economic policies. It would be another money mending machine for the corrupt politicians and Bureaucrats.
• Do man discriminate Naga women? Are women not equivalent to man. Did our Creator make them inferior? Why not Naga women go outside the state and learn something. Is this the way women show respect to man after all they are treated with no marks. Shame on them. Who knows tomorrow they might ask for a separate state. I'm starting to hate all those women who support this bill.
• There shouldn’t be a separate after all. It will only confuse the mandate as to who are the culprits. The Men or women.
Some of those who voted others had this to say:
• I don’t support the implementation of the Women Reservation Bill because it is derogatory. If the government is really serious about equal rights, than both men and women should have equal opportunities and should be able to enjoy equal rights without the stench of social stigma and traditional taboos. The Women Reservation Bill however does not address any of these issues that really affected the condition and rights of women. Rather the Women Reservation Bill is like putting make up. Its a facade, nothing more and its very degrading. Real change is needed, not some superficial make up.
• In one sense I support the implementation of the Women Reservation Bill and yet on the other had I detest the idea of reservation. The whole policy of reservation in India is not really an affirmative action. It is demeaning and rather than empowering the marginalized, it only disempowers them and ensures that they remain in their oppressed situation.
• Women Reservation Bill will not help in changing the status of women. It of course will put some women in position of power, but for the majority, it will not change because the mentality of men and the society by large is very narrow and sexist. For women to have equal rights the mentality of the society has to change and men should not be afraid to share power with women.
