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New
Delhi: After frenzied opposition and repeated
disruptions, the Rajya Sabha Tuesday evening finally debated the
historic women’s reservation bill in the run up to a vote on the
legislation reserving one-third seats for women in parliament and
state legislatures.
Amongst those who spoke were Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Arun
Jaitley, Communist Party of India-Marxist’s (CPI-M) Brinda Karat,
Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Satish Mishra and Jayanthi Natarajan of
Congress.
Opening the debate was Jaitley, who said his party “unequivocally”
supported the women’s bill but added that the privilege of
supporting it had been diluted by “some of the most shameful
incidents in India’s parliamentary history”.
The
leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, who spoke after the
constitution amendment bill was put to vote by Chairman Hamid Ansari,
said he had a feeling of being a party to history in the making when
he came to the house.
Karat, a vocal supporter of the bill, said women’s reservation in
parliament and state legislatures would change the “culture of the
country because women today are still caught in a culture prison. In
the name of tradition, stereotypes are imposed and we have to fight
these every day”.
These stereotypes will also be broken by the bill, said Karat, who
believes the entry of a larger number of women in legislatures would
make for “more sensitive politics”.
“The
women’s reservation bill will ensure that women of Scheduled Caste,
Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes, poor women and Muslim women
would benefit from it,” Karat said, addressing concerns that the
bill would benefit only some sections.
Congress leader and spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan also refuted
critics demanding a special quota for Dalit women, saying Dalits and
tribals would continue to get reservation under the bill.
A
triumphant Natarajan said no other party “had the courage to deliver
the promise (of reservation for women) to the people of India”. She
said Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh had not lagged behind in supporting measures for women’s
empowerment.
However, Bahujan Samaj Party’s Satish Mishra said his party would
not be able to support the proposed legislation in the current form.
He wanted the prime minister to reserve 50 percent of all seats in
legislatures for women in line with their population ratio.
Shivanand Tiwari of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) created a minor
stir in the house by speaking in favour of the bill, which has been
opposed vocally by a section of his colleagues led by party
president Sharad Yadav.
The
AIADMK’s V. Maitreyan pointed out that the bill was a great tribute
to the Indian housewife who he said had proved to be better
financial managers of the household “than all the finance ministers
of India”.
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