Irom Sharmila's plight shows marginalisation of women in Manipur politics

In the case of Sharmila, Rajkumari believed that while there were many reasons why she lost – others also pointed to her positioning herself against Ibobi Singh – one that takes precedence for her would be the activist’s decision to end the protest against AFSPA and get married.

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Sashikala VP 12 February, 2022 12:36 pm IST
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As MANIPUR gets ready to elect a new Assembly, the Congress and Janata Dal (United) have promised in their manifestos to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). The protests against AFSPA in this Northeastern state have been led by women, the most prominent one being Irom Chanu Sharmila.

Her over 16-year-long hunger strike against AFSPA from November 2000 till August 2016 brought the Act into the national consciousness.

Making AFSPA her cause, Irom Sharmila also tried her luck in the 2017 Manipur Assembly elections from Thoubal constituency. But the voters of Thoubal delivered a knockout blow to her. She received just 90 votes out of 27,271 that were cast by the electorate against three-time former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh.

Sharmila also became one of the eight, from the total 11 women candidates in the fray, to lose their deposits. Her loss in a way also revealed how women are represented in Manipur politics.

Her massive defeat came even as the state has the distinction of having more women voters than males. According to the final electoral roll for 2022 Assembly elections, there are 20,34,966 voters in Manipur out of which 9,85,119 are male, 10,49,639 female, and 208 Transgender.

During the 2017 polls, the state saw 16,43,962 electors exercising their franchise out of which 8,59,723 were female and 7,84,239 males.

Sophia Rajkumari, rights activist and founder of Eta: NorthEast Women’s Network told India Ahead that she was not surprised with how the elections in 2017 went for women candidates.

This time, while her organization wrote to all political parties urging 30 percent tickets for women, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress’ list show just three candidates each for the 60-member Assembly. The Janata Dal-United (JDU) has put up just one woman in the election.

A repeat of the 2017 election results is quite possible, she thinks. “What we see and talk about is different from the ground reality. When you visit, it’s obvious, women in Manipur are involved in financial matters, they are outside taking charge. It looks like women have a say, but in reality, we don’t have decision-making powers – from the family level to organizational level,” she stated

Giving the example of her own home, Rajkumari pointed out, “My mother was very active in local issues but inside the house, she was just an obedient wife. When there are preconditioned social norms in society, women will not come forward… they think that domestic abuse is okay, that being told how to dress is all fine.”

In the case of Sharmila, Rajkumari believed that while there were many reasons why she lost – others also pointed to her positioning herself against Ibobi Singh – one that takes precedence for her would be the activist’s decision to end the protest against AFSPA and get married.

“Her loss in the elections was unfortunate and shameful (for the state). She struggled so hard, (but) people symbolized her as this pure woman and when she decided to have her own life like other women, she was put aside, just like any other woman.”

Rajkumari and her group have been approaching women in Manipur to vote for the women candidates in the fray. If there are none, they are advocating to push the NOTA. She also points to the Congress fielding only three candidates till now, while in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections the party has promised 40 per cent women candidates.

The party has also made promises to reserve one-third of government jobs for paper, but it is only on paper, she retorts. Having candidates would have acted as a real symbol of the change they would want to bring through, she adds.

The Janata Dal (United) has fielded just one woman, Thounaojam Brinda, a former police officer who has been decorated for bringing down many high-profile drug smugglers. She is the first police officer from the narcotics division to have received a gallantry award.

One of the Congress candidates is the current MLA Akoijam Mirabai Devi from the Patsoi Assembly seat. She told India Ahead that things were changing for women in politics in Manipur, but slowly. “Women have come out to help in campaigning too. Earlier they had no interest.”

Mirabai Devi stated that bringing women to the fore was difficult. But she was vague on the reason and pointed to men “having already been too far ahead”. She did go on to admit that a lot of it was because men did not allow it.

“It’s difficult to fight against a male candidate. Especially because to fight one needs money and power. Women should stand on their own and fight,” she went on to say.

When asked about why Congress had not fielded more women candidates, she said, “You have to look at who will get us the majority number. The BJP has ruined this state and to save the state from this, we will have to see that the candidates are strong.”

Poll watchdog ADR’s analysis of the 2017 Assembly polls show that out of 53 sitting MLAs in Manipur, two (4%) had declared criminal cases against them while 29 (55%) owned assets worth more than Rs 1 crore. The average worth of assets owned by MLAs was Rs. 2.21.

Manipur will vote in two phases on February 28 and March 5. The results will be declared on March 10.


Note: The article was first publish in India Ahead

https://indiaaheadnews.com/india/irom-sharmilas-plight-shows-manipur-politics-not-women-friendly-106314/





The Performative Democracy of Manipur General Elections 2022 

RESPONSE TO INTERVIEW ON THE ARMED FORCES (SPECIAL POWERS) ACT

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