US embassy cable - 05NEWDELHI5521

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 005521 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, KWMN, PINR, SOCI, IN, AF, BG, PK, Human Rights 
SUBJECT: INDIAN WOMEN CONTINUE TO FACE OBSTACLES IN POLITICS 
 
REF: NEW DELHI 5135 
 
1. Summary: Despite an impressive list of accomplishments, 
including several current Chief Ministerships and presidency 
of the Congress party, Indian women continue to face cultural 
and practical barriers to their participation in politics. 
Female political leaders insist that greater women's 
participation is essential to ensure adequate treatment of 
issues such as health, education, food and water security, 
and children's welfare, as well as gender inequality in the 
workforce and insufficient attention to crimes against women 
and children.  One million female local council (Panchayat) 
members demonstrate the competence of women as politicians, 
but women's representation in political parties, state 
assemblies, and national parliament remains modest.  Parties 
continue to claim commitment to the Women's Reservation Bill, 
but Parliament is unlikely to pass it anytime soon.  End 
Summary. 
 
2. (U) Female Indian political experts discussed successes 
and challenges of Indian women in politics in a series of 
panels at a National Democratic Institute (NDI) workshop in 
New Delhi in June (Reftel).  Topics discussed included 
cultural and practical obstacles faced by Indian women in 
politics, the current state of women in Indian political 
parties and elected bodies, and the prospects of the women's 
reservation bill.  Panelists included leading experts from 
NGOs, political parties, academia, and the media. 
 
Women's Involvement in Politics is Essential 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
3. (U) Indian panelists underscored the need for women to be 
involved in politics to ensure that so-called "women's 
issues" - health, education, food and water security, and 
children's welfare - will no longer be relegated to low 
priority.  Rita Sarin, of the NGO The Hunger Project, 
emphasized that these issues are actually "human issues," and 
therefore cannot be ignored.  Dr. Syeda Hameed, Planning 
Commission member, indicated that these are the "issues of 
the future."  Panelists insisted that women must be included 
in the decision-making process on these and other political 
issues; they agreed that simply voting every five years does 
not constitute adequate political participation for women. 
 
Women in Political Parties and Elected Bodies 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
4. (U) Despite the high profile examples of party leaders 
like Sonia Gandhi (Congress), Vasundhra Raje (BJP), and 
Mayawati (BSP), most women's participation in Indian 
political parties is reduced to administrative or campaign 
support.  Several Indian women who have risen to powerful 
positions, including Indira and Sonia Gandhi and Chief 
Ministers Raje, J Jayalalithaa, and Sheila Dikshit, have done 
so through the connections of their political families.  Many 
parties tout their women's wings as evidence of their 
commitment to women, but these wings often serve as a way for 
the party to give lip service to women while keeping them out 
of the mainstream of the party leadership, activists argue. 
Several parties have policies reserving a certain percentage 
of their party leadership positions for women, but they have 
not fulfilled these promises. 
 
5. (U) There are now approximately one million women in 
Panchayats (local councils), due to the constitutional 
reservation of 33 percent of the seats for women.  The 
reserved seats rotate every five years.  This constitutional 
mechanism has been a significant driver of increased 
political involvement for women.  In many cases, women have 
been re-elected to their Panchayat position even after their 
seat was no longer reserved; in a few states, women's 
representation at the panchayat level is approaching 50 
percent.  Center for Social Research Director Ranjana Kumari 
noted that while women Panchayat members or leaders often 
begin as "fronts" for their husbands or male relatives, they 
often become empowered in their own right and are able to 
shed themselves of male family members' control.  Veena 
Nayyar, of Women's Political Watch, estimated that one-third 
of the Panchayat women are ruling in their own right, 
one-third are essentially proxies of their husbands or other 
male relatives, and the remaining third are somewhere along 
the process of empowerment described by Kumari.  Nayyar 
emphasized the need for these Panchayat women to convert 
their large numbers into real power. 
 
Obstacles Remain 
---------------- 
6. (U) Neerja Chowdhury, Political Editor of the Indian 
Express, noted that women excel in every field in India, 
except in politics, where they have "hit a glass ceiling." 
She explained that Indian men oppose women in politics mainly 
because they fear changes in the power balance in the family, 
marketplace, and community.  Kumari opined that when a 
society is more democratic, the state is more democratic. 
She predicted that when there is more equality for women in 
the family and community in India, there will be more female 
representation in government.  She urged participants to 
bring this about by supporting economic and social 
empowerment of women to change family income balances. 
According to Benita Sharma of UNIFEM, Indian women elected to 
political office have begun to break stereotypes, but Indian 
men continue to cling to traditional gender roles and refuse 
to help out in the home. 
 
7. (U) In addition to cultural obstacles, Indian women also 
face constraints of time, money, media access, and muscle 
power.  Sharma explained that without more electricity, child 
care, and primary education, women would remain too busy 
working in the fields, obtaining food and water, and taking 
care of children to be involved in politics.  Najma 
Heptullah, a parliamentarian who recently joined the BJP, 
noted that women entering politics are often unprepared to 
interact effectively with the media and need to cultivate the 
toughness required to face and take advantage of media 
exposure.  She also explained that politics is dominated by 
money and muscle power, both of which women often lack, 
especially in Muslim areas.   Sarin gave examples of elected 
women at the panchayat level being replaced by men under 
dubious circumstances, citing regulations saying that 
illiterate women or women with more than two children must 
vacate their seats.  Another tactic is filing a no-confidence 
motion and then replacing the ousted woman with a man. 
 
 
Prospects Bleak for Women's Reservation Bill 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
8. (U) In state assemblies and in the national Parliament, 
representation of women has hovered around 8-9 percent for 
the past several years.  The Women's Reservation Bill, which 
calls for reserving one-third of the seats in the Parliament 
and state assemblies for women, is a major goal of women 
political activists, including a majority of the panelists at 
the NDI workshop.  First introduced in 1996, and 
re-introduced in 1998, 1999, and 2001, the bill faces stiff 
opposition from most male politicians across party lines. 
They have repeatedly blocked the bill either by voting it 
down or using parliamentary delay tactics. 
 
9. (U) Panelists offered mixed opinions on the future of the 
Women's Reservation Bill.  Those who are most active in 
lobbying for the bill, including Kumari and Rita Bahuguna 
Joshi, President of Congress' women's wing, were optimistic 
that it would pass in the upcoming Parliamentary session. 
Joshi pointed out that the bill is included in the UPA 
government's Common Minimum Programme and in the manifestos 
of several parties (including Congress, BJP, and the Left 
parties).  Kumari noted the importance of media exposure and 
unity among women across party lines to cultivate support for 
the bill. 
 
10. (SBU) Panelists with a more objective viewpoint, such as 
journalist Chowdhury, expect the bill to flounder once again 
due to lack of political will and the opposition of Congress' 
UPA partners.  In a separate meeting with Poloff, G Devarajan 
of the All India Forward Bloc explained that if Congress had 
been sincere in its commitment to women's reservation, it 
would have already passed the bill.  He also noted that 
Bihar's leading politician, Lalu Prasad Yadav, opposes the 
bill, and Congress will not do anything to offend Lalu in 
light of upcoming elections in Bihar. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
12. (U) Women continue to face an uphill battle in Indian 
politics due to traditional gender roles and lack of time, 
money, and political muscle.  We do not expect the Women's 
Reservation Bill to pass anytime soon.  However, there are 
other means by which Indian women can improve their lot. 
Efforts to improve women's social and economic empowerment - 
such as women's self-help groups, the recent anti-domestic 
violence bill, and educating women and girls - can have a 
multiplier effect that would do more for women than efforts 
to pursue the out-of-reach Women's Reservation Bill.  The 
women elected to the Panchayats are demonstrating that women 
are capable of performing well in elected positions, and they 
have drawn many more Indian women into political life.  In 
time, participation of women in local governance will give 
more women experience in political leadership and may lead to 
a wider acceptance of women in Indian politics. 
 
13. (U) Bionotes on NDI Panelists: 
---------------------------------- 
 
Kiran Bedi, Indian Police Service 
Neerja Chowdhury, Political Editor, Indian Express 
Rita Bahuguna Joshi, President, All India Mahila Congress 
Syeda Hameed, Member, Planning Commission, GOI 
Najma Heptullah, BJP Member, Rajya Sabha 
Ranjana Kumari, Director, Center for Social Research 
Veena Nayyar, President, Women's Political Watch 
Rita Sarin, Director, The Hunger Project 
Padma Seth, Former Member, National Commission for Women 
Benita Sharma, Program Officer, UNIFEM 
K P Vijaylaxmi, Associate Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru 
University 
Girija Vyas, Chairperson, National Commission for Women 
 
BLAKE