Mazie Nakhro, PhD
Our Naga men do not seem to be quite ready yet to share political power with our womenfolk. So we are conveniently citing the Article 371-A of the Indian Constitution and our Naga customary laws as the supporting arguments for the leadership privileges we enjoy.
On closer examination, it seems to me that we (men) are resorting to a pick-and-choose game of politics. Although many of us are not real supporters of the Indian Constitution, we like Article 371-A. We also talk as if we are for the defense of our Naga customary laws whereas our women are not. By the way, what does the idea of “33% Women Reservation” in Nagaland have to do with our Naga customary laws on land holding systems? For that matter, what is so sacred about our customary laws if they do not promote equal opportunity for both genders in our society? And what is really unique about our Naga customary laws? I dare say that 99 percent of people groups in the world started as patriarchal societies like us too. Men were once hunters and warriors so they all had the privilege of leading their societies. But times have changed. Today, men and women alike, especially in urban areas, are doing the same jobs.
In Nagaland, most of us (men) seem to believe that we do not discriminate women in our society. But have we askedour women if they feel the same way? In most traditional Naga homes, for example, sons are still favored over daughters. Our sons could get away with some mischief now and then, but we expect our daughters to always be good little girls. Theymustdo chores at home while their brothers may play outside; when it comes to providing education or even serving food, we give preference to our sons over our daughters. As parents, we may seek out potential wives for our sons, but we consider it shameful to do the same for our daughters; once married, our daughters must be the ones to leave our homes, and they have no rightsof inheritance from their parents. Now as married wives and mothers, they must meet their husbands’ needs, raise their children, weave their shawls, work in their fields, collect firewood, fetch water, cook their food, and serve them. If they suffer beatings at the hands of some unreasonable husbands, there are no customary laws which they can rely upon for their protection or for prosecution against abusive husbands. If they face divorce, they have no claims to their common properties either. And in the public square, they have no standing or voice in matters of decision-making. So the question we must ask ourselves is this: Should we support these traditional practices in the name of preserving our“customary laws”? As far as my personal opinion is concerned, some of these unfair treatments of our wives and daughters seem to be more like our Naga customary flaws than our Naga customary laws.
Before we pass judgment on our mothers, wives, sisters and daughters, every man must at least try to put himself in the place of a female/woman. Then we may be able to see things a bit differently. But even if we may not agree with our women on certain issues, they are certainly not our foes.
In fact, man and woman are created to be complementary. God did not take a portion of Adam’s head to make Eve so she could sit on his head. Nor did He make the woman out of the man’s feet so she could be stepped upon. Rather Eve was created from one of Adam’s ribs and thus signifying the centrality of the female role in man’s life. Also, the first divine mandate to rule over God’s creation was given to both of them: For God said, “Let us make man [and woman] in our own image…and let them [both] rule….” So we (men) would do well to recognize our women to “rule” alongside us.
We cannot prosper as a society if we deny opportunity to half of our citizens. We must recognize that we need women as much as they need us in our nation building. That is, we need their intuition, their refinement, their intelligence, their influence, and their participation to create a better society.
From time immemorial, women have been helping to make this world a better place. They have not always received the credit they deserved, but that has never stopped them from contributing their share of responsibilities to human civilization. Today, large numbers of them are serving in professions of every kind. Many of them are successfully climbing the corporate ladder and launching multimillion dollar enterprises. More than three million women now work in occupations which could be considered "nontraditional" until very recently.In the political arena, certain women have made a change in the way the world works. Some of the women prime ministers and presidents of nations in the last few decades include Golda Meir of Israel, Elisabeth Domitien of Central African Republic, Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain, Indira Gandhi of India, Maria da Lourdes Pintasilgo of Portugal, Lidia Tejada of Bolivia, Dame Eugenia Charles of Dominica, Gro Brundtland of Norway, Milka Planinc of Yugoslavia, Maria Liberia-Peters of Netherlands Antilles, Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, Kazimiera Prunskiena of Lithuania, Violeta Chamorro of Nicaragua, Edith Cresson of France, Hanna Suchocka of Poland, Kim Campbell of Canada, Sylvie Kinigi of Burundi, Agathe Uwilingiyimana of Rwanda, Tansu Çiller of Turkey, Claudette Werleigh of Haiti, Jenny Shipley of New Zealand, Ruth Dreifuss of Switzerland, Jennifer Smith of Bermuda, Helen Clark, Mireya Moscoso de Arias of Panama, VairaVike-Freiberga of Latvia, Tarja Halonen of Finland, Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, Angela Merkel of Germany, and more. As for Aung San SuuKyi of Myanmar, she won 80 percent of the seats in a democratic election in 1990, but the military government refused to recognize the results.These powerful women demonstrate that women are able to achieve in male-dominated venues, and they are providing positive messages of equal opportunity to the next generation of women.
In the light of all these emerging trends in the world, we can be certain that our Naga women will succeed, sooner or later, in their struggle for equal opportunity. A time will come when they would even serve at the helm of our national affairs. Indeed, a day will come when all of us would also envision such a world of freedom and opportunity for our daughters, nieces and granddaughters. But rather than waiting for this dream to occur at some future date, why can’t we offer our support to our women starting now. After all, we would want to be on the winning side of history. Wouldn’t we?
