Aheli Moitra
In October 2005, the DAN government at the helm of Nagaland State turned down a proposal to set up a Nagaland State Women’s Commission.
In a letter to the Editor of The Morung Express, a reader felt “necessitated” to thank the DAN government. “…such a Commission is highly necessary only in a Hindu society (or a Muslim society sometimes)… the equality and the uniformity that are found in Nagaland had nothing to do with the Caste system/Hindu culture or other systems which discriminate women and other weaker sections of the society.”
By 2007, the State Women’s Commission was set up with considerable effort from the women. Though it continues to be ignored by the State machinery at large, the Commission has organized gender sensitization programs in all districts of Nagaland State as well as several colleges, set up institutionalized documentation of the political, economic and social status of women in Naga society, and even got some women to start speaking up, or take action, against domestic violence—that all but rare occurrence that is far too accepted in the name of peace and unity of the family.
But none of this has amounted to much as a decade later, men are still repeating the mantra of imagined equality, using the same old traditional and customary crutch.
What are women to do in a situation where standing up for gender justice amounts to getting hounded and humiliated ?
Perhaps, the women could look beyond the Indian Constitution. With all its equity driven progressive laws, the Constitution has made slow progress in eliminating social prejudices and inherent violence against women in the Indian Union. For instance, while the 33% women’s reservation in panchayats (Indian village assemblies) has brought the voices of many rural women into village level decision making, gender equity is far from achieved.
A proposed direction to look at, then, would be the Naga socio-political set up. Time and again, the State and the “rule of law” have been looked on as an intrusion into the independently functioning political decision making communes among the Nagas that did not need a State to dictate functionality—the State has been used as a tool for lopsided global integration but little as means to bring progressive social change. There is no real faith in the processes of the State. The independent Naga communes, on the other hand, continue to influence the way the Naga male mind interprets the world, which could explain why we see a fresh crop of urban “social organizations” every day (that ironically behave more like the State in their rejection of inclusive participation). Women were and are a central part of upholding the sovereignty of Naga communes. From the sowing and harvest of local food to taking care of the human, home and honour, women have been the backbone of such independently functioning ‘libertarian municipalities’ (a political formation proposed by libertarian socialist Murray Bookchin in the mid 20th century as both a means and an end, rendering the State meaningless). What makes the Naga communes different, and rapidly weakening, from these municipalities is the absence of women from decision making processes in the local assembly. Activism for gender justice should be aimed at saving the Naga commune.
Women in Iceland help us with further direction. In October 1975, fed up by low wages and dismissal of domestic work as wage labour, the women went on a strike from homes and offices. In what became ‘the Long Friday’ for the men of the sparsely populated country, 90% of the women left their work to protest—not by burning down buildings but stirring each other up with songs and speeches. The impact on young women, the polity and the whole economy was so dramatic, five years later Iceland became the first in the world to democratically elect a female president. Iceland has had its ups and downs over the years, but determined its political course independently.
Once they soak in the significance of self determining rights, for themselves and their communes, what would happen if Naga women went on a strike (even for a day) from fields, granaries, rituals, homes, schools, colleges, hospitals, government and private offices to establish an equitable distribution of labour and responsibility in politics, economy and society?
Easier asked than answered, perhaps an exercise spanning another decade, but may contribute to a more localized progression of the Naga polity. Shared public decision making, and playing osmotic roles (men make great tea too), will only strengthen the functional aspect of the Naga commune thereby reducing State dependence, possibly ushering an era where women (and men) shape the sovereignty that Naga ‘people’ have aspired for.
Other propositions may be mailed to moitramail@yahoo.com
