In a place like Kargil where people are hesitant to let go of their male-female essentialist assumptions, gender inclusion through reservation, and its effective implementation, is a political imperative
“I knew I will not win for I was a woman contesting against a male ullema” says Zahra Bano, the first-ever female candidate, who despite being conscious of the chauvinist approach of the society she is a part of, contested the Kargil council election in 2007. Governed by the ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil, tucked away in the great Himalayas 204km from Srinagar, has come a long way since its 1999 catastrophe.
With the formation of the lAHDC and renewal of the panchayat system, Kargil had taken its first step towards development. Socio-economic and political betterment gained major currency among the decision-makers. Education was rigorously worked upon — a handful of Government schools grew into a total of 385 primary, middle and higher secondary schools. Having evolved from an orthodox ‘no education for girls’ stand to an immensely desirable ‘education for all’ society, this town had women coming out of the protective walls of their homes into all kinds of jobs.
However, despite such considerable progress, women surprisingly continue to remain missing from one of the most crucial bodies of the town, leading to an inevitable waning of the feminist ideal. The decision-making bodies of Kargil with its upsetting male-female ratio have women still struggling up the hierarchical ladder.
Kargil, being a Muslim dominated district, is a stronghold of two major religious institutions — the Imam Khomeini Memorial Trust Kargil and the Islamia School Kargil. These institutes play a dominant role in shaping the society’s outlook. They patronise the Council as well, resulting in most decisions being taken under their supervision, catering to their demands. The nominated seats are allotted by the council members and sadly sheer nepotism has rendered the whole initiative redundant.
The rapport shared by the council members with aghas or sheikhs (Shia religious leaders), allows no space for women leaders to emerge. Interventions by conservative religious leaders lead to imposition and perpetuation of orthodox religious and cultural obligations for women.
Even more disturbing is the fact that this ideological abduction damages young minds as well. So much so that the student unions founded for the benefit of students studying outside Kargil by other ‘well-educated’ students seem to base all their decisions on the trust/school dichotomy. The ratio of male-female members in the union is upsetting, with girls participating as mere decorative pieces mostly during annual ceremonies. Recently, an initiative for appointing a girl representative was turned down thoughtlessly by male members in the students’ union. Naturally girls continue to stay under-represented in the union.
Given the baggage of orthodox conventions carried by political parties that subscribe to the ideologies of their respective religious groups, it is unlikely that male leaders will be able to raise the social and economic status of women anytime soon. At best they may assigning some ‘soft’ portfolios to their nominated female candidates. But such positions allow the women no say in fund distribution or in policy-framing. This leaves the women to worry about their development on their own. Fiza Bano, a resident of Akchamal village, refused to be a part of her village panchayat for the fear of society harassing her.
“Young boys used to pass lewd comments when they saw me around while the grown-ups denounced me for having stood against an agha”, laments Zahra. Unfettered by such criticism, however, she contested the election to pave the way for her fellow females, who hopefully, have been motivated to participate more actively so as to cultivate a sense of collective identity among the women.
The lAHDC has been assigned the job of formulation of development programmes for the district keeping in mind district schemes as notified by the State Government as well as Centrally-sponsored schemes. It is also expected to periodically review the progress of developmental plans and implementation of schemes at the grassroots levels. Additionally, the Council is responsible for employment generation, constitution of notified area committees, education, funding of small scale cottage industries, vocational training, public health and sanitation to name a few. And to make sure these subjects are well looked-after, each Councillor is granted Rs 18 lakh. However, women Councillors often do not receive their share.
Exhausted by the unresponsive nature of their male leaders, women in Kargil have resorted to a “women for women” jingle. In a place like Kargil where people are hesitant to let go of their male-female essentialist assumptions, gender inclusion through reservation and its effective implementation emerge as the sole saviour. Political participation of women at all levels needs to be ensured in order to integrate women’s development into the mainstream development discourse.