Political Participation of Women in Mizoram
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POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN MIZORAM B. LALFAKAWMI DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE MIZORAM UNIVERSITY POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN MIZORAM By B. Lalfakawmi Political Science Department Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science of Mizoram University, Aizawl Department of Political Science Mizoram University 2019 Declaration I, B.Lalfakawmi, hereby declare that the subject matter of this thesis is the record of work done by me and that the contents of this thesis did not form basis of the award of any previous degree to me or to the best of my knowledge to anybody else, and that the thesis has not been submitted by me for any research degree in any other University/Institution. This is being submitted to the Mizoram University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Political Science. B. LALFAKAWMI (Candidate) Prof. JAGADISH KUMAR PATNAIK Prof. K V Reddy (Head) (Supervisor) MIZORAMUNIVERSITYPost Box No. 190 Gram : MZU AIZAWL Phone : (0389) 2331610 / 2331609 www.mzu.edu.in Mobile: 9436769468 Email:[email protected] Department of Political Science Prof. K.V. Reddy, Supervisor CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the thesis entitled, “ POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN MIZORAM ”, submitted by B.LALFAKAWMI for the award of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, is a research work done under my supervision and guidance. The thesis submitted by her has not formed the basis for the award to the scholar for any degree or any other similar title and it has not yet been submitted as a dissertation or thesis in any university. I also certify that the thesis represents objective study and independent work of the scholar. (Prof.K.V.Reddy) Supervisor ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I want to thank Almighty God for giving me a chance to complete my research work through all his innumerable blessings he has bestowed upon me. I want to give a big thanks to my supervisor, Prof. KV Reddy, whose continuous and unfailing guidance has helped me to undertake the research till my completion. He has been very kind and patient inspite of my limitations and ailments. I want to thank my husband, Lallawmsanga, and my children for the endless support that I received from them without which I could not have completed. I thank my parents and my family for their constant encouragement and support throughout my studies. I would like to give special thanks to my sister, Lalnunpuii, who has helped me in all the field works that I needed to undergo for my research. Finally, I want to thank my friends and my colleagues in the department for their understanding and continuous support all through my research works. Aizawl B. Lalfakawmi October 2019 CONTENTS DECLARATION CERTIFICATE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABBREVIATION LIST OF TABLES LIST OF APPENDICES Page No. CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION 1-33 CHAPTER 2 : POLITICAL PROCESS IN MIZORAM : 34-74 SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND HISTORICAL AND STATUS OF WOMEN CHAPTER 3 : WOMEN AND POLITICAL 75-115 PARTICIPATION CHAPTER 4 : ROLE OF CHURCH AND CIVIL 116-158 SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS CHAPTER 5 : URBAN – RURAL DIMENSIONS OF 159-199 POLITICAL PARTICIPATION CHAPTER 6 : PERFORMANCE OF WOMEN 200-247 POLITICAL LEADERSHIP CHAPTER 7 : CONCLUSION 248-260 APPENDICES BIBLIOGRAPHY LIST OF TABLES Table No. Title Page No. 2.0 District-wise number of Literates and Literacy Rate 38 2.1 Literacy Percentage of Mizoram from 1901-2011 64 2.2 Literacy Rate of Urban and Rural Population 65 2.3 Literacy Rate in India 65 2.4 Census-wise Number of Workers in Mizoram 68 2.5 Number of Workers – 2001 Census 68 2.6 Number of Workers – 2011 Census 69 2.7 Number of State Government Employees 70 3.0 Women in Parliaments 81 3.1 Percentage of Voter Turnout in Lok Sabha Elections 91 3.2 Women Contestants in Lok Sabha Elections 93 3.3 Women ‘s Representation in Union Council of Ministers 95 3.4 Women in North East Indian States 98 3.5 Reasons for Low Participation of Women in Politics 105 3.6 Participation with Stronger Voice 106 3.6.1 More opportunities for Presence of Women in Legislature 106 3.6.2 Favour of Reservation for Women 107 3.6.3 Reservation Enhance Women’s Participation 108 3.7 Legislative Assembly Elections in Mizoram 112 3.8 Lok Sabha Elections in Mizoram 113 4.0 Membership of Churches in Mizoram 133 4.1 Role of Church in determining Political Participation of Women 134 4.2 Church Hinders/Encourages Women’s Political Participation 135 4.3 Civil Society Organisations Helps Women Enter Politics 136 5.0 Regularity in Voting 166 5.1 Reason for Casting Vote 167 5.1.1 Motivation for Voting 167 5.1.2 Discussion of Political Issues 168 5.1.3 Discussion of Politics with Whom 169 5.2 Voter Turnout in Assembly Elections in Mizoram 170 5.3 Voter Turnout in Lok Sabha Elections in Mizoram 171 5.4 Active Membership of Political Party 173 5.4.1 Activities in Party during Elections 173 5.4.2 Whether Parents belong to Political Party 174 5.5 Women Candidate’s Status and Locality 181 6.0 Approval of Political Career for Women 209 6.1 Reasons for Approval of Political Career for Women 210 6.1.1 Reasons for Disapproval of Political Career for Women 211 6.2 Success of Women as Political Leaders 211 6.2.1 Reason for Success of Women as Political Leaders 212 6.2.2 Reasons for Failure of Women as Political Leaders 213 6.3-6.5 Women Candidates and their Performance in Elections 223-227 6.6 Percentage of Women Candidates 228 6.7 Women in the 1st Aizawl Municipal Elections 238 6.8 Women in the 2nd Aizawl Municipal Council Elections 239 6.9 Reason for Contesting Elections 243 6.9.1 Difficulties Encountered as Elected Members 243 6.9.2 Mode of Attending Meetings and Deliberations 244 6.9.3 Gain Confidence After Being Elected 245 6.9.4 More Responsibilities After Being Elected 245 6.9.5 Differential Regards from Other People 246 LIST OF APPENDICES Page Number 1. Questionnaire i-ix 2. Aims and Objectives of Mizoram People’s Forum x-xi 3. Aims and Objectives of Mizo HmeichheTangrual xi 4. Aims and Objectives of United Mizo Grassroot Organisation xii 5. Aims and Objectives of All Mizoram Women Federation xii-xiii 6. Aims and Objectives of Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl xiii CHAPTER-I INTRODUCTION The first chapter tries to explain and clarify the concept of political participation. It consists of the various definitions and explanations given by different political thinkers, the importance and necessity of the participation of people in their government and how it is the basis of modern democratic system of government. The chapter thus, covers the introduction, significance of the study, review of the literature, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, hypotheses, methodology and the chapterization. Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘participation’ as ‘taking part (with others) in some action or matter’. According to Michael Rush and Philip Althoff, “ Political Participation means the movement of the individual at various levels in the political system.” Almond and Powell also describes political participation as “ The involvement of the members of society in the decision-making process.”1 Since the time of Plato, people’s participation in public affairs has been a subject of interest in political science. Aristotle has also emphasized on sharing of the responsibilities of public offices. He even defined citizen as one who shares in the administration of justice and in the holding of office.2 Since politics is a study of power, political participation involves participation in the exercise of this power which may be in the form of taking part in decision-making or in changing the existing policies to make 1 KK Ghai, Political Sociology, Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi, 2011, p.223 2M Ramchander and K Lakshmi, Women and Politics: A study in Political Participation, Booklinks Corporation, Hyderabad, 1993, p.22 1 improvements. Political participation generally requires two decisions, one must decide to act or not to act and must also decide the direction of this action.3 Political Participation includes different types of participation in politics like participation in mobilization, in electoral process and in decision making at different levels of political system. For effective political participation, political consciousness and political awareness are very important as they create a sense of political interest amongst the people which in turn brings about enormous participation of masses in the affairs of political system. The process by which people participate in the political process is referred to as political participation. Traditional democratic theory generally regards participation by an individual in political activity as a virtue in its own right. The right to political participation refers to a citizen’s right to seek to influence public affairs. The French Revolution of 1789 says that all citizens have the right to take part personally or by their representatives in the formulation of law4. The role of participation was limited only to the law-making function in the earlier days but had considerably widened with the emergence of welfare state along with the increasing role of state. No political system, particularly no democratic political system can function without the active participation of the people in the political process. Participation in politics has existed throughout history in one form or the other, but democracy provides for the maximum scope of participation for the citizens which may be in the form of direct or indirect participation. Participation has been seen