“The concept that women are the property of the men in their lives, is the root cause of lesser representation of women in politics”, said activist Jyothi Narayanan here on Saturday.
Speaking at the discussion on “Diminishing presence of women in politics” organised by Progressive Muslim Women’s Forum NISA here on Saturday, she said that women’s presence was always low in politics and that the recent incidents only highlighted it. “How is her delivering a child dishonour to Anupama’s father? It is because he considered her his property that he could use in whatever way he wanted”', she said.
The political parties always had difficulty finding women candidates for election, because they were always in pursuit of women who reflected the ideas of the men in the organisation, rather than women who thought independently. “All they ever wanted was obedient women who worked hard, which is difficult to find”, Ms. Narayanan said.
She vehemently criticised the religious entities for conditioning the women in such a way that there would never be unity among them, in order to field their own candidates. “Just look at the women who opposed women’s entry into Sabarimala, as if they were being forced to go there, or the women who fought against the law that banned triple talaq, or the women who went to jail to kiss the palm of a Bishop who is accused of raping a run”, she said.
NISA president V.P. Zuhra appreciated the strength of the girls from the Indian Union Muslim League’s feeder organisation Haritha for raising their voice against sexual harassment within the organisation. “IUML announcing 20% representation for women in the party was a success of their fight”, Ms. Zuhra said.
Moderator M. Sulfath alleged that the political parties were scared of women with independent thinking, as they would pose a threat to the male leaders if they rose up in position, and hence, often nipped such attempts in the bud. She said that incidents such as the one in Haritha revealed the inherent misogyny in the minds of some of our prominent political leaders.
Earlier, former Principal of the Government Law College, Eranakulam, T.G. Ajitha, released a book written by Ms. Zuhra on “Gender Justice in Islam” by handing it over to writer Khadeeja Mumtaz.
Ms. Zuhra said that the teachings of the Quran were being twisted by the interpreters against women as a means to control them. Activist B.V. Sakeer said that the madrasas did not teach children what actually needed to be taught such as the Muslim property rights.