Tens of thousands of women in Nepal's feudal society protested on the streets and organised all-women's rallies. The image is powerful; and the impact strong enough to win a people their democracy.
This was Nepal's 'Rhododendron Revolution' (named after the ubiquitous rhododendron to signify the bloodless revolution), in which women played a major role. The 19-day street protests of the revolution in April 2006 forced King Gyanendra to surrender the absolute power he had seized through a coup last year.
Women comprised 45-70 per cent of most protests. In remote districts like Dang and Chitwan, and towns like Pokhara, there were 10,000 to 50,000-strong all-women rallies.
Vidya Bhandari, senior member of the powerful Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), believes that the crucial issue was peace. After 10 years of conflict in Nepal in which over 13,000 people were killed and tens of thousands displaced people wanted an end to violence.
With Gyanendra pursuing a military solution to the Maoist insurgency, people realised there would be no peace under his rule. "Even the most apolitical woman thought that if her participation in a protest rally for a day could ensure peace, she ought to do it", says Bhandari.
Earlier too, during the public uprising against King Birendra's absolute rule in 1990, women had played a big role. The 'Chhiyallis ko Jan Andolan' (2046 according to the Nepali calendar People's Movement) had forced the king to lift the ban on political parties.
That led to the formation of a constitutional monarchy in the country. One of the most enduring media images from this movement was that of Durga, then a 22-year-old college student.
Her forehead and palms were red with vermilion to signify victory, and she raised her hands triumphantly, making a double victory sign. Even now, one comes across Durga's image on posters, in books on the agitation and T-shirts.
"Although Nepal is a feudal, male-dominated society, after the 1990 pro-democracy movement, a series of elected multiparty governments improved women's conditions.
Also, with so many men in Nepal migrating abroad for jobs, there are a large number of women-headed households, where women need to make important decisions on their own", explains Bhandari.
The Maoist movement has also contributed to empowerment of women. The Maoists have been advocating equal rights for women and ethnic communities, and many of those who joined peaceful protests and defied curfew and shoot-at-sight orders were part of their cadres.
In spite of all these developments, though, democratic Nepal has left women out in the cold. "There are no women in the teams formed by the government and Maoists to hold peace negotiations, and just a few in the other important committees formed to take the peace process forward", she says.
Perhaps the most telling incident occurred when Nepal's parliament, reinstated after four long years, refused to promote deputy speaker Chitralekha Yadav to the empty post of speaker.
Yadav had played a commendable role during the pro-democracy movement, and two of the seven major parties had pushed for her. But she was pipped to the post of the speaker by the UML candidate.
Equally disillusioned is Shailaja Acharya, 63, leader of the Nepali Congress, the country's biggest party, who was deputy prime minister in 1998. Although she is the only woman in Nepal to have reached that level, Acharya, also the niece of prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala, has now been sidelined.
In Nepali politics, unlike India or Bangladesh, family connections do not make women's political careers. "Here, if you are a woman related to the prime minister, it means sacrifices", says Sujata Koirala, Girija Prasad's daughter, and herself a member of the Nepali Congress.
"Each time I wanted to stand for a post, there was some controversy and I had to take a back seat so that no aspersions were cast on my father".
Koirala attributes the dearth of women in top political positions to the late arrival of democracy in Nepal. "Other SAARC countries have had democracy for a long time. In Nepal, we had our first taste of democracy in 1990", she says.
"But our women understand the benefits that a democratic system brought them. That is why thousands of apolitical wives, mothers and daughters joined the pro-democracy protests. We need to strengthen this young democracy".
And it is towards this strengthening of Nepal's fledgling democracy that the women's wings of all the major political parties in the country pushed for 33 per cent representation for women in parliament.
On May 30, 2006, the resolution was passed unanimously in parliament. The resolution also asked the government to present Bills to rectify laws that discriminate on the basis of gender.
"When I joined politics, many of my relatives and people in my village did not like it. But I told them that I could listen to their problems sitting in their kitchens. Could a strange man do that?" explains Bhandari.
The winds of change are, perhaps, blowing now. After a month-long exercise, the Interim Constitution Draft Committee has decided to induct 10 more members. Of the nine members whose names were announced on July 15, four are women. Finally, women will have a hand in shaping Nepal's constitution.
The writer is a journalist.
(Courtesy: Women's Feature Service)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1933553.cms
This was Nepal's 'Rhododendron Revolution' (named after the ubiquitous rhododendron to signify the bloodless revolution), in which women played a major role. The 19-day street protests of the revolution in April 2006 forced King Gyanendra to surrender the absolute power he had seized through a coup last year.
Women comprised 45-70 per cent of most protests. In remote districts like Dang and Chitwan, and towns like Pokhara, there were 10,000 to 50,000-strong all-women rallies.
Vidya Bhandari, senior member of the powerful Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), believes that the crucial issue was peace. After 10 years of conflict in Nepal in which over 13,000 people were killed and tens of thousands displaced people wanted an end to violence.
With Gyanendra pursuing a military solution to the Maoist insurgency, people realised there would be no peace under his rule. "Even the most apolitical woman thought that if her participation in a protest rally for a day could ensure peace, she ought to do it", says Bhandari.
Earlier too, during the public uprising against King Birendra's absolute rule in 1990, women had played a big role. The 'Chhiyallis ko Jan Andolan' (2046 according to the Nepali calendar People's Movement) had forced the king to lift the ban on political parties.
That led to the formation of a constitutional monarchy in the country. One of the most enduring media images from this movement was that of Durga, then a 22-year-old college student.
Her forehead and palms were red with vermilion to signify victory, and she raised her hands triumphantly, making a double victory sign. Even now, one comes across Durga's image on posters, in books on the agitation and T-shirts.
"Although Nepal is a feudal, male-dominated society, after the 1990 pro-democracy movement, a series of elected multiparty governments improved women's conditions.
Also, with so many men in Nepal migrating abroad for jobs, there are a large number of women-headed households, where women need to make important decisions on their own", explains Bhandari.
The Maoist movement has also contributed to empowerment of women. The Maoists have been advocating equal rights for women and ethnic communities, and many of those who joined peaceful protests and defied curfew and shoot-at-sight orders were part of their cadres.
In spite of all these developments, though, democratic Nepal has left women out in the cold. "There are no women in the teams formed by the government and Maoists to hold peace negotiations, and just a few in the other important committees formed to take the peace process forward", she says.
Perhaps the most telling incident occurred when Nepal's parliament, reinstated after four long years, refused to promote deputy speaker Chitralekha Yadav to the empty post of speaker.
Yadav had played a commendable role during the pro-democracy movement, and two of the seven major parties had pushed for her. But she was pipped to the post of the speaker by the UML candidate.
Equally disillusioned is Shailaja Acharya, 63, leader of the Nepali Congress, the country's biggest party, who was deputy prime minister in 1998. Although she is the only woman in Nepal to have reached that level, Acharya, also the niece of prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala, has now been sidelined.
In Nepali politics, unlike India or Bangladesh, family connections do not make women's political careers. "Here, if you are a woman related to the prime minister, it means sacrifices", says Sujata Koirala, Girija Prasad's daughter, and herself a member of the Nepali Congress.
"Each time I wanted to stand for a post, there was some controversy and I had to take a back seat so that no aspersions were cast on my father".
Koirala attributes the dearth of women in top political positions to the late arrival of democracy in Nepal. "Other SAARC countries have had democracy for a long time. In Nepal, we had our first taste of democracy in 1990", she says.
"But our women understand the benefits that a democratic system brought them. That is why thousands of apolitical wives, mothers and daughters joined the pro-democracy protests. We need to strengthen this young democracy".
And it is towards this strengthening of Nepal's fledgling democracy that the women's wings of all the major political parties in the country pushed for 33 per cent representation for women in parliament.
On May 30, 2006, the resolution was passed unanimously in parliament. The resolution also asked the government to present Bills to rectify laws that discriminate on the basis of gender.
"When I joined politics, many of my relatives and people in my village did not like it. But I told them that I could listen to their problems sitting in their kitchens. Could a strange man do that?" explains Bhandari.
The winds of change are, perhaps, blowing now. After a month-long exercise, the Interim Constitution Draft Committee has decided to induct 10 more members. Of the nine members whose names were announced on July 15, four are women. Finally, women will have a hand in shaping Nepal's constitution.
The writer is a journalist.
(Courtesy: Women's Feature Service)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1933553.cms