Lemwang Chuhwanglim
Researcher & Activist
ULB is neither a beginning nor an end to gender injustice if gender injustice exists in the Naga society and most significantly it is not relevant to gender issue. ULB is not the liberator of gender injustice. Being modernized and educated is not imitating the other group/person/organization.It is more of something that he/she has well knowledge about differences, contrasting, compelling and supporting in different issues and adapt contextual strategy than imposing irrelevant theory. Women who had codified the current ULB as gender issue have brought the image of common women into lack of differentiating between politics and gender issue.
A Naga female social media blogger says “ULB may benefit the candidates in many ways but it will not reach the women in the grassroots level in any means. Those who are fighting for the ULB are for personal interest”. Politically, this statement is absolutely true because; in politics no gender is invincible from corruption. For instance, the current female chief minister of Tamil Nadu, who represents women of the country as an image of honesty, sincerity and so on, has strongly proven that no gender is escapable from corruption in politics. Reflecting on women in politics, Naga women who have misinterpreted the ULB as gender injustice to feminists groups in different parts of the world need to bring a quick restoration of the image of the Naga men and women from what has been misinterpreted. Individual Naga women, who had misinterpreted ULB as gender issue than politics, may give any example to the Nagas of any female in politics that has brought gender justice in any society. In the history of the Nagas, women remain ignorance to politics not because they are not given opportunity, but they willingly support own husband for they know the benefits through husband and this is indicated among many women of the male politicians. If ‘Wannabe feminist’ wants to know why the wives of every politician do not contest in election, they must interview each of them and bring it to the common knowledge of the findings. ‘Wannabe Feminist’ needs to know the concept of gender justice deeper than the ULB which plays with gender issue. Gender issue/justice is not women against men or vis-e-vis, it is more of any human being to obtain individual rights under certain social norms and system. Again, ‘rights’ here is not everything an individual claims as authentic. Every individual lives within certain long time social system and culture and no one can live out of it or if he/she does not live under a common social norm, he/she has less place to live anywhere in this world.
If few ‘Wannabe feminist’ in the Naga society aim to be politicians, to equalize the leadership role in the society, it is recommendable to contest from own constituency in the common political battle but not through such reservation which is a weak plat form that indicates weaker being. There are non-governmental organizations somewhere like Change.org, showing placard written “SERVING NAGA MEN SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL. NOW IT’S TIME FOR GENDER JUSTICE. NO BUTS” is the most misleading slogan. Such slogan needs to be questioned seriously by the Nagas in general to the extent of finding the perpetrators behind it. Such organization lacks proper knowledge about the way of lives of the Naga men and women since the origin of the Naga indigenous community. Had Naga men and women not shared equal responsibilities according to consensus understanding based on their abilities, Naga society would remain a war zone between men and women but it is not and this itself shows the role of women and men in different leadership fields. The current ULB issue, which is a pinhole issue, should not legitimize to gender injustice. Naga ‘Wannabe feminist’ may construe this peaceful history of men and women living together peacefully for so long as, men suppressed women’s voice, therefore, no conflict emanated between men and women. It is not what ‘Wannabe feminist’ think today about equality, based on the western world theories. If only ‘wannabe feminist’ aim for equality and justice, one of the positive contributions of the ‘wannabe feminist’ is to avoid plucking raw food and obliterate adapting non-contextual ideas from else.
The entire problem in the current ULB political battle is the impatience and insufficient knowledge of few women ‘wannabe feminist’ who think that ULB which is a political battle is gender issue. Any state, regional, nation and international organization going for signature campaign against the Naga society in the name of gender injustice, in political battle like ULB, may have to rethink again of their little knowledge about the entire history of Nagas loving community with peace and harmony between men and women. Legitimizing ULB, the political battle, as gender injustice by any organization, activists and individual is exposing own foolishness and weaknesses in the field of respective profession, which only mortifies the image of oneself and group. The current meaningless step of the few personal interest ‘wannabe feminist’ is a great mistake, assuming that support from the outside world would fulfill their personal interest in politics by using gender issue as a tool. In fact, these few women are manipulating the name of the entire innocent women. Most importantly, few women, with personal interest fighting for the ULB do not represent the entire women of the Nagas and it is recommendable not to represent as the entire women on media and so on. It is predictable that even if these women win the ULB election, there will be 90% women who would not receive even .01% of the benefits of the winner but still claims that it will bring gender equality rather than political stability and social transformation in large.
