Matrilineal Meghalaya lags in women’s representation

  • | Saturday | 24th February, 2018

Shillong: Matrilineal Meghalaya is yet to close the gender gap when it comes to representation of women in decision-making spaces. The women’s fellowship (women’s wing of the church) raised the issue once, five years ago. Party president Rahul Gandhi said Congress needs to “balance the number of men they put up to fight the election with the number of women”. The highest number of women people have ever voted to the 60-member assembly remains five, in the outgoing assembly. But the number of women who become elders in the church – forget pastors – is very low.

Shillong: Matrilineal Meghalaya is yet to close the gender gap when it comes to representation of women in decision-making spaces. Of the 372 candidates contesting this election, only 32 are women.When BJP mahila morcha president Vijaya Rahatkar visited the state in May last year, she had said the party would try and field many women candidates, “just like in Maharashtra and Haryana”. When asked about women in Meghalaya’s politics, president of the state unit of BJP Shibun Lyngdoh said, “As a party, we support reservation for women.” The party ended up fielding only two women candidates – Pelcy Snaitang from Ranikor and Marian Maring from Nongpoh.The Congress leadership also brought up gender issues during its election campaign, attacking RSS-BJP for “disempowering women”. Party president Rahul Gandhi said Congress needs to “balance the number of men they put up to fight the election with the number of women”. The party has fielded seven women this time. Congress MP and working president of the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee said it all came down to “win-ability”, something chief minister Mukul Sangma has also said in the past.The disparity of representation goes beyond just the parties. It is also about the attitude of voters. In 1986, when the city hosted a SAARC ministerial meeting on women in development, the state assembly did not have a single woman legislator. The highest number of women people have ever voted to the 60-member assembly remains five, in the outgoing assembly. “Many states in the northeast are yet to see more women enter politics,” Congress minister Ampareen Lyngdoh, one of the five women MLAs, tweeted recently.President of the Civil Society Women’s Organisation Agnes Kharshiing attributed the gap to economic restrictions. “Money power comes into play in a big way in the election. It has seeped into the entire process. That is one of the major things keeping women away from politics.”Social norms and expectations also have a big role to play in restricting the entry of women into politics. In the Khasi and Garo societies, lineage is passed on through the mother. The youngest daughter is the custodian of the family property and lives in the ancestral house. After marriage, men move into the women’s house. But the power dynamic is heavily skewed in favour of men. “Despite the romance built around matriliny, gender roles are pre-defined as in any patriarchal society. Portraying political assertion as a masculine exercise, women are compelled to occupy subsidiary spaces,” senior journalist Patricia Mukhim said. She added, “Politics often devolves into a series of personal attacks, which may be difficult for women to fight off.”The lack of women’s representation is applicable to traditional socio-political institutions – like the dorbar shnongs, or village councils – and religious institutions – like the church – as well.The rangbah shnong, or the headman, for instance, can only be a man. “Until even a while ago, the traditional institutions of dorbar shnongs consisted only of male members. With changing times and more education, women have begun to assert themselves. They have started taking part in the dorbars and now occupy certain posts like the assistant secretary or the treasurer. But the posts of president and secretary can only be occupied by men,” said W Kharshiing, president of Synjuk ki Khlieh Nonsynshar Shnong ka Bri U Hynniewtrep, the umbrella body of all dorbar shnongs in Khasi, Jaintia Hills and Ri-Bhoi.In the church, which plays an influential role in Christian-majority Meghalaya, ordination is still restricted to men. “The Presbyterian Church has almost 7 lakh members, but we have not yet ordained women to be pastors. The women’s fellowship (women’s wing of the church) raised the issue once, five years ago. But the decision taken was that it is not yet time,” former vice-president of the National Council of Churches in India Rev PBM Basaiawmoit said. Long ago, he recalls, there was a woman pastor in the Garo Baptist Church. He added, “Personally, I have been advocating for women’s empowerment in all walks of life. But it is a patriarchal mentality that persists in the society.”Secretary of women’s relations of the Presbyterian Women’s Fellowship of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church of India Insam Riame said, “There are restrictions, but we are trying to get better representation. The participation of women is increasing. But the number of women who become elders in the church – forget pastors – is very low. Meghalaya is still better off. Here, women are allowed to be elders. Other parts of the northeast don’t even allow that.”She added, “Being born and brought up in a patriarchal society means we agree with how this functions by internalising these norms. So we think we don’t have any problems.”

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