"It is not Parliament but a Man-liament," shouts a group of women, both young and old, flaunting placards and banners and squatting on their knees at the Freedom Park in Bengaluru on Thursday.
It is a movement for an equal political space for women, which is growing steadily, as young women, college students, professionals and senior citizens are voicing their concern over the meagre presence of women members in the parliament of world's largest democracy.
“Is the Indian Parliament standing on both its feet? No. It has no gender balance. It is skewed. Is it fair women are given only eight per cent of tickets by political parties in election after election?,” asks Tara Krishnaswamy, who is leading Shakti—a collective of people lobbying for political power for women.
On the eve of Women's Day, Shakti organised public gatherings across seven cities, including Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chittoor, Bengaluru, New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram, and 17 districts of Maharashtra to pressurise the Election Commission of India (ECI) to intervene and get parties to give tickets to women.
The campaign, "Half is us, Half is our's", held across the metros is mobilising women voters and leaders to pressurise the political parties to give 50 per cent of the tickets to women in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. While the demand for equal representation of women in politics is nothing new, even with the election commissioners voicing their concerns over political parties not giving enough tickets to women, nothing much has changed so far.
Women hold placards as they participate in a campaign to demand equal representation in politics, in Bengaluru | Bhanu Prakash Chandra
"No party is committed to women reservation. Women are seen only as vote bank; they are still not preferred as candidates. Women are denied tickets to contest elections and even within the party structure, they do not have leadership roles or decision making power. Women often end up as cadres who work hard for the party but are never rewarded with power or position. The EC must intervene and not let the democracy be skewed," says Tara, adding that the EC should wake up to uphold the democratic values.
"EC is to ensure free and fair elections. Now, how is it fair when 50 per cent of the population is not allowed to contest elections?," asks Tara.
Asha Rani, a participant, feels that though women are worshiped as Adi Shakti, they are being oppressed by men as the latter feel insecure. "Women need political power to be respected in the society. Women can do multitasking. We don't need any special knowledge to run the country. We have enough knowledge of finance or policy as we run the households. We want opportunity and representation, and not tokenism."
Mythili, a college student, wants to see a gender-just politics in the country. "I don't want a man to make all the decisions for me."
Shalom, a student leader, says it is quite intimidating to see only men in politics.
Lakshmi, a working woman, feels that women have reached great heights in all fields. "Why should we not be adequately represented in the Parliament?," she asks.
Geeta Menon, a social activist, says political power is not just electoral power. "The common woman, too, has to be made part of decision making. Political power should not rest only with men."
Brinda Adige, an activist from Global Concerns, says women's participation will make the Parliament a just place. "Criminals and people who have no respect for women in their personal lives come and make laws and policies for women. They will have no idea what it is to be just, nurturing or uphold the dignity of women," says Brinda.
