Indian Women Need a Political Party

Raveendran/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images A protest in New Delhi on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI — In my latest column, I use urban India’s extraordinary reaction to the rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi to argue that the nation’s most ferocious battle is that between modernity and the powerful hold of the Indian village over society.

The aftermath of the rape has, naturally, included much talk about how to make the country a better place for women. I do not believe that much progress can be made in this area without women coming into full conflict with Indian society. Such a conflict, if it has to be meaningful or effective, is possible only through electoral politics. What I am suggesting, more specifically, is that women should be directly represented in Indian politics — in the form of a political party that is entirely concerned with what matters to women.

In my previous Letter From India, I had argued that what saves India is its politics, because many sections of society find representation in Indian politics. More than 300 political parties contested the last general elections, representing various concerns, biases and cries for justice. But women are not directly represented, which is baffling.

The presence of a few powerful female politicians does give a sense that women are not insignificant to Indian politics, but this is deceptive. Beyond a point, female politicians in mainstream parties cannot afford to antagonize the men and the elders among their voters — the chief adversaries of Indian women. There has been much talk in India about reserving electoral seats for women, but such a reservation, if it ever were to be enacted, would still be controlled by male politicians through their wives, daughters and even mothers. Also, such a reservation is a condescension by the system that would not be required if women were to organize as a political force.

Only a political party whose fate is tied to how women perceive it can begin to influence the system in a deep way. Women make up more than half the country’s population, and they have a slate of grievances about how the nation treats them. These are issues that unite both highly educated urban women and rural women, who historically have not had enough opportunities to do what they please.

Over the years several groups in India have been empowered through political representation. For instance, the Dalit community, formerly considered the untouchable caste, has been transformed through aggressive political representation — not by the willful reformation of the upper castes. Also, the reality of Indian politics today is that even political parties with just a few seats in Parliament influence the government to get their way. Women must begin to twist some arms to make India a better place. They must understand that the fundamental instinct of men, even of decent men, is not to concede too much power.