GENDER AND POLITICS:
A prominent social division in our country is the gender division, generally understood to be natural and unchangeable. It is based on social expectations and stereotypes about women for centuries. They are brought up differently and made to think that the main responsibility of women is housework and bringing up children. The main responsibility of the man is to earn money to provide for the family. There is a division of labour based on gender in most of the families.
Sexual Division of Labour:
The sexual division of labour happens when the work is divided on the basis of the gender of the person. Generally, the household work is done by the women of the family and men go out to work. The work done by the women is not paid for and also does not require any basic skill. The men earn the money for their work and need some basic skills to do the work. Women do go out and work, to fetch water, collect wood and work in the fields. But work done by women is not valued and not considered as essential.
Even though the men and women work for the same number of hours in a day, the work done by men is considered more important. This has resulted in confining the women to her household and has restricted her participation outside the home.
This has led to a monopoly situation in politics where only men rule. But gradually, with increasing education and awareness gender issues have234 been raised in politics. The role of women in changing and has changed a lot from the previous times. They now enjoy more or less equal political rights and have advanced in many fields today and are found in almost all occupations today.
Different Aspects of Life in Which Women Are Discriminated:
Indian society is a patriarchal society. There is a male domination everywhere. Women in our society face discrimination, disadvantage and oppression:
1. Education: the literacy rate of women is still lower than men. Only 54% of the women are literate against 76% of men. This is because a boy’s education is still preferred over sending a girl to the school. Spending money for a boy’s education is considered more important as they consider the boys to be the future bread winners of the family, rather than girls who shall be married off. In the field of higher education the prop. of girls is significantly lower than the boys.
2. Proportion of Women in Paid Jobs: women still have a small share in the highly paid jobs and higher posts. On an average a woman works one hour more than a man per day. But women’s works is not recognized as much of it is housework which is unpaid.
3. Preference of Male Child: Indian parents prefer to have male children over female children. A female child is considered as a burden as the parents will have to earn for her dowry to marry her. While, a boy child is considered as an asset for the family who will earn and increase the family income. This preference has resulted in social crimes such as female foeticide where a girl child is killed even before she is born.
4. Crime against women: there are various instances of crime against women, they are exploited and harassed at the work place and at home. There are cases of domestic violence against which makes her unsafe even in her family.
All these factors have prevented the women from actively participating in the work outside their homes and have confined her to homes. Any role played by women outside the household work is not respected and recognized.
Women in Politics:
Gender issue with respect to politics: work has been divided on the basis of the gender of the person, all the housework was assigned to women and income earning assigned to men. A women role outside her household has been very limited and very minimal, especially in politics. However the gender issue has been raised in the politics. Women in different parts of the world have fought for equal rights for women. These protests demanded equal educational and career opportunities, extension of voting rights to women and improving the political and legal status of women.
It seems likely that women would have improved their status had they not raised their voice, gender issues in politics. Women oriented movements all around the world drew attention towards unequal rights to women in the political field. These women demanded equal social, political and economic rights for women. The belief of these feminist movements was that unless women have power to make decisions, they can progress in society. It meant having more women as elected as representatives in the political field. To ensure fair share of women in govt. bodies, it is legally binding to have 1/3 of seats in local govt. bodies are reserved for women. Such reservations have helped women in voicing their concerns and interests and demanded equal status and opportunities.
Status of women’s representation in India’s Legislative Bodies:
In India the participation in the political area is very low. The women strength in the Lok Sabha is not even 10%. Their share in the state assemblies is as low as 5%. The share of women in India is behind those of several developing countries of Latin America and Africa. One probable solution to increase the women participation in the political system is to make legal laws for the minimum number of seats to be filled by the women candidates. In the Panchayat and Municipalities, it is legally binding to fill one third of the seats by women candidates, the panchayati raj amendment act. This has resulted in 10Lakh elected women representatives in the local govt. bodies. Women’s Reservation Bill envisaging 33% reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies is pending before the parliament.
Feminist: advocating social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men. refers to a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment and sexual violence. Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights. Feminism is mainly focused on women's issues, but because feminism seeks gender equality, some feminists argue that men's liberation is therefore a necessary part of feminism, and that men are also harmed by sexism and gender roles. Feminists are "person[s] whose beliefs and behavior[s] are based on feminism." Feminist theory exists in a variety of disciplines, emerging from these feminist movements and including general theories and theories about the origins of inequality, and, in some cases, about the social construction of sex and gender. Feminist activists have campaigned for women's rights—such as in contract, property, and voting — while also promoting women's rights to bodily integrity and autonomy and reproductive rights. They have opposed domestic violence, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. In economics, they have advocated for workplace rights, including equal pay and opportunities for careers and to start businesses.
RELIGION AND POLITICS:
Gandhiji’s View on Religion: He did not consider religion as Hinduism, Islam or Christianity. To him every religion was based on some belief supported by rituals. He tried to get rid of rituals as far as possible. To him religion was a human institution that helped people solves practical affairs. He believed that the moral values drawn from all the religions should be used to guide the political system.
Religion Be Positively Used in Politics: Gandhi preached for using the moral values and ethics of all the religions as a guide to the political system. All religions have some belief system and the ethics drawn from it should be used in politics as a guide. Ideas, ideals and values should have a place in political. People should be able to voice their needs and interests as a religious community. Also the leaders should regulate the religion to ensure that it is not used for discrimination and oppression. The use of religion in politics should be dome with careful thought and analysis. No religious demand or interest should be raised if it is against any other religion. Religion should be used to people and not to arouse feelings of distrust and suspicion. What he meant was that politics must be based on ethics and moral values contained in all religions which are essentially the same. These unite rather that create differences.
Religion, the political expression, of which has been dangerous and explosive in India, leading to violence and riots. It led to the partition in 1947 and exodus of millions of people across the border. Expression of religious differences in politics of different countries is very common since it is a very sensitive issue. As principles, ideals and values of various religions are based on humanity, their political expression ought to play a positive role in politics. Political leaders should see that there is no discrimination and inequality among citizens on the basis of religion. The state and the govt. should treat all religions equally without favour or partiality.
· Human rights groups in our country have demanded that special measures be taken to protect religious minorities, like, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, & Parsis. Their contention is that these minority communities are victims of communal riots. Their opinion has substantial truth but there are exceptions too.
· Some political parties and women’s movement have been demanding uniform civil code for all communities and are demanding a change in family laws of all religions because they discriminate against women and favour men.
Communalism: What is Communalism?
· When religion is expressed in politics in exclusive and partisan terms.
· When one religion and its followers are pitted against another.
· When beliefs and practices of one religion are considered superior.
· When the demands of one religion are formed in opposition to another.
· When the state favours domination of one religion above all others.
What is NOT communalism?
· Adherence to a religion or its system.
· Indulgence in ritualism, superstition, obscurantism, magic charm and occult practices, astrology is NOT communalism.
· Practice and propagation of a religion, religious gatherings, seminars meetings etc. is NOT communalism.
· Running a religious education institution or organization is NOT communalism.
What is the ideological basis of communalism?
· Religion is the principal basis of social community
· Fundamental interest, socioeconomic interest, and political interest of a religious community are the same.
· People who belong to different religions cannot belong to the same social community.
· Insignificant and superficial commonalities among followers of different religions.
· Interests of most Religious communities are different and mutually conflicting.
· People belonging to different religions must live together as equal citizens. They must not try to dominate the other. They should not desire to form a separate nation.
· This was the extreme form of communalism practiced under the aegis of of the Muslim League which led to the Partition of India. The Muslims felt that the Hindus would dominate them and therefore two separate nations were created- India and Pakistan.
· But people of same religion do not form one social community. There are rich & poor; educated & illiterate; among one religion. Also people have different interests, aspirations, identities, status, profession, occupation of people are dissimilar among the same religious group. They have varying opinions and ideological inclination, some are orthodox or liberal or moderate.
Communal Politics:
· The use of religion where one religion is shown as superior to the other religion is called communal politics. One religious group is against the other religious group and demands of one religious group are against the demand of the other religious group.
· It is based on the idea that religion is the only basis of forming a community. It believes that followers of one religion belong to the same community. Their interests, ideas are opinions are same or should be same.
· It also believes that people of different religions cannot be part of the same community. Their ideas, interest and opinions cannot be same, their ideas and demands are bound to be different.
· In an extreme case of communalism, it follows that people from different religions are not equal citizens and cannot live together as one nation.
The Idea of Communal Politics Fundamentally Flawed:
· The idea of communal politics is fundamentally flawed as it is not necessary that people of the same religion have identical interests and demands.
· There is a possibility that people of the same religion have different interests, opinions and ideas.
· The demand and interests of the people depend on the roles they play in society. Their interests are based upon the position and the status they enjoy in the society and not based on the religion that they follow.
