Women Reservation In Local Bodies: Nagaland Gives Up Once Again, This Time Without A Fight

After pressure from the Naga civic society, the Nagaland assembly unanimously passed the resolution to repeal the Nagaland Municipal Act, 2001. The Act was amended in 2006 to provide 33% reservation to women in keeping in line with the 1992 constitutional amendment. Since then, this Act has been opposed in the state by various Naga groups, who believe it interferes with Naga Customary Laws, protected under Article 371(A) of the Constitution. As a result, the State Election Commission has notified the cancellation of May 16 elections to urban local bodies.

The state has not seen any urban local body polls for the last two decades. In 2017, Nagaland witnessed violence when elections to the civic bodies were announced with 33% reservation for women. The elections were withheld because of the protests. The then ruling party Nagaland People’s Front had to even change its chief minister, TR Zeliang. This time, there has been no violence, but the government once again had to change its stand after coming under pressure from the Naga groups.

Importantly, the Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA) has opposed the repealing of the Nagaland Municipal Act, 2001. The association has claimed that this was done without any dialogue with women. The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party led by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio is ruling the state, in alliance with the BJP, whose leader Y Patton is a deputy CM. The BJP, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been vocal about the empowerment of women but in a state, where it is in the government, the reservation for 33% women had to be withheld. Unfortunately, the central leadership of the ruling BJP is silent on this. 

Notably, the newly formed Nagaland Assembly has two women MLAs — which itself is a history as the previous assemblies had no women representatives. The two women MLAs are from the ruling NDPP, but surprisingly both are silent. Not only this, last year Phangnon Konyak of the BJP became the first woman representative from the state to the Rajya Sabha.

Demand For NRC Grows In Manipur

This week, over thousands of women from three Ima Keithel (all-women markets) and six student bodies carried out a rally at Khwairamband Keithel towards the chief minister’s secretariat demanding implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Manipur, as reported by ANI. Khwairamband Keithel is the business hub in the heart of the city.

Currently, the Inner Line Permit, which regulates the migrants, is in operation in the state. However, the protestors aren’t satisfied with the ILP, as the deminstrations suggest. They believe there have been many illegal immigrants residing in the state, which is the reason they are demanding NRC.

In Northeast, the demand for NRC has been a common factor. There have been protests in the past in other states, like Tripura, demanding its implementation. Due to lack of industrial growth, unemployment has been a big problem for decades in the region. In addition to this, some states like Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh witnessed refugees coming from East Pakistan, later Bangladesh, settling there and changing the demography. Tripura’s demography changed completely with Bengalis becoming the majority due to the influx of refugees. And this led to the rise in the fear of being reduced to minority in the other NE states. It was this fear that led to the Assam agitation culminating with the Assam Accord of 1985, when it was agreed to update the NRC in the state, as the process was first done in 1951.

Till date, Assam is the only state where NRC has been implemented. The results of the process of the NRC update are known to everyone. When the final list was released in 2019, the same people, who were vocal supporters of NRC, were left dissatisfied.

This brings back the important question — will NRC solve the issue of Manipur? There has been a tendency to brand anyone as an “illegal immigrant” in the region by some sections. And some politicians and political parties milk these sensitive issues only to gain votes. The belief that the NRC will solve all the problems related to illegal immigrants is a fantasy. The example of Assam NRC is in front of us. The demand for NRC is also related to the local emotions, and the state government has to be really serious to address the actual issues that are giving rise to such insecurities among the different tribes before the state witnesses any kind of violence.

TIPRA Motha’s Flipflops Are Confusing Local Workers 

After the announcment of a fast-unto-death agitation by TIPRA Motha supremo Pradyot Debbarma, as reported by media, at the Baramura hill range in Khowai district over the delay in appointment of an interlocutor by the Centre, he along with party leaders flew to Guwahati after getting a call from Assam CM and North East Democratic Alliance chairman Himanta Biswa Sarma. According to the Motha leaders, the meeting was fruitful where Sarma assured them that PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were serious about the welfare of the tribals.

Last week, Pradyot himself had said Amit Shah phoned him and assured him that the interlocutor would be appointed by the Centre by March 27. Later, Motha, despite initially agreeing to support the Left-Congress in the Speaker election indirectly supported the BJP by walking out of the assembly over a minor issue. However, the interlocutor wasn’t appointed by March 27 and as a result Motha declared launching of an agitation at the Baramura hill range. But now this too has been silently withdrawn by the party, leaving the ground-level party workers in a state of confusion.

The TIPRA Motha is currently the main Opposition party and its leader Animesh Debbarma is the leader of the Opposition. However, the party’s flipflops and soft attitude towards the ruling party raises questions. Significantly, CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury, who took a soft approach towards Motha, has attacked the latter and said nothing positive is going to come out of the honeymoon between Motha and BJP. He also said tribals were exploited by the kings of Tripura — this has been the long stand of the Left, which grew out of the mass movements against the royal family. Jitendra himself has been facing criticism within the party for taking a soft-approach towards Pradyot and Motha during the recently held state elections.

The author is a political commentator. 

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