Women in the Assembly : From 1990 to 2012
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: March 21, 2012 -

From the first woman MLA in the Manipur Legislative Assembly in the person of the late Hangmila Shaiza from Ukhrul Assembly Constituency in 1990/91 to O Landhoni (Khangabok Assembly AC), AK Mirabai (Patsoi AC) and Mrs Nemcha Kipgen (Kangpokpi AC) in 2012, the path to the floor of the State Assembly for the women of Manipur has not been easy nor has it been insurmountable either.

In between, Manipur saw K Apabi Devi from Oinam AC and later W Leima Devi from Naoriya Pakhanglakpa AC when the MSCP was a towering force under the stewardship of the troika of W Nipamacha, Dr L Chandramani and Th Chaoba.

W Leima Devi even went on to become a Minister of State at that point of time when jumbo sized ministry was very much an important vocabulary in Ministry formation.

For 18 long years, that is from 1972 till 1990/91, Manipur had to wait for her first woman MLA and if the 10th State Legislative Assembly has seen the Congress scripting history by winning 42 seats in the 60 member Assembly, then it has also notched up another remarkable first in seeing three women MLAs at a time.

Five percent is the strength of women MLAs in the 10th Assembly and if we go by the fact that it took 18 years or so, in the post Statehood period, to see the first woman MLA in the State, then this is not bad going at all.

However the interesting point lies in the fact that most of these women MLAs have had to ride their way to the Assembly on the strength of their family connection, which may be read as the influence generated by their husbands.

Wife of the late Yangmasho Shaiza, Hangmila Shaiza made her way to the hallowed portals of the Assembly riding on the sympathy wave that swept Ukhrul AC, when her brother-in-law, younger brother of her husband, was assassinated in the midst of an election campaign.

K Apabi Devi too rode the sympathy wave after her MLA husband K Bira was amongst those killed in the Thangjing plane crash in 1991. W Leima Devi carried on from where her husband, W Angou Singh left, after representing Naoriya Pakhanglakpa for more than a term and even representing Manipur at the Rajya Sabha.

O Landhoni on the other hand contested and won after her husband, O Ibobi vacated the Khangabok seat to contest from Thoubal AC in 2007. Ibobi had then already become the first man in the State to complete a full five year term in office as the Chief Minister.

This is what marks out AK Mirabai and Mrs Nemcha Kipgen from the other four women MLAs that the State has seen so far. Mirabai has been a foot soldier of the Congress for decades and has represented the ‘woman’ face of the party for years.

Mrs Nemcha Kipgen's political background is as yet unclear, but that she does not have a former MLA or a Minister for a husband sets her profile apart from the others-a trait that she shares with AK Mirabai.

So Hangmila Shaiza, K Apabi Devi, W Leima Devi, O Landhoni, AK Mirabai and Mrs Nemcha Kipgen are the women MLAs that Manipur has had and this in a land which gave the meira paibi movement to the world and has a day set aside as a State holiday each year on Nupi Lan day.

Six women MLAs since 1972 and four of them making it primarily by piggy riding on the support base cultivated by the family and the picture of where women stand in the decision making process should be clear.

While we do not have the record of women representatives in the Legislative Assembly of other States, it is however interesting to note that Uttar Pradesh has already had a woman Chief Minister in Mayawati.

Tamil Nadu has seen Jayalalithaa in and out as its Chief Minister in the last few decades and in Delhi, Shiela Dixit continues to define what TINA is all about. In West Bengal, Mamata Bannerjee is the master of all she surveys.

The contradiction is not lost on us. Women in Manipur are generally perceived to be empowered. Khwairamband bazar, the only market to be run exclusively by womenfolk is a telling commentary on how women have been contributing to the family's kitty and in the bargain carved out a niche for themselves.

However to say that women are under represented in the highest decision making institution would be an understatement. The recent announcement by the Chief Minister that a Ministerial berth would be reserved for women, can be seen in two ways.

For one, it is encouraging to see the leader of the people ready to give women their due place but on the other hand it can be seen in the light of a patronising tone.

Why should the need to reserve a Ministerial berth for women arise in a place which among many other points, redefined public protest by way of the nude protest in front of Kangla demanding the repeal of AFSPA in 2004 ?

Why this need in a place where it is a woman, Irom Chanu Sharmila, who has taken the issue of AFSPA to the global stage ? Think over it.