Just when its leadership was coming to terms with its poor performance in the Assembly polls, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) saw a tussle break out between the men and women of its student organisation, the Muslim Students’ Federation. Some 10 leaders of Haritha, the women’s wing of MSF, accused the office-bearers of making sexist remarks against them in Kozhikode in June. In response, the IUML leadership dissolved the State committee of Haritha and said that the issue is a “closed chapter” but the case is still under investigation.
A label to shake off
Amid this controversy, Noorbina Rasheed, national general secretary of the IUML’s women’s wing, defended the party asserting that its ideology is minority politics and not gender politics. While maintaining that there is no discrimination between men and women in the party, Ms. Rasheed said that women in the IUML should not forget that they were “Muslims first and only then women”. She said that her role model is Hajira Beevi, wife of Prophet Ibrahim, while former Haritha leader Fathima Thahiliya had stated that she drew inspiration from the legendary communist leader, K.R. Gowri Amma.
For the IUML, the label of patriarchy is not easy to shake off. It fielded a woman candidate (Kamarunnisa Anwar) in the Assembly elections for the first time only in 1996. The second time it fielded a woman candidate was 25 years later, in 2021. The candidate was Ms. Rasheed, who lost the election. Early last month, after Haritha leaders attacked the party leadership for being patriarchal, the IUML State working committee adopted a policy to reserve 20% of organisational posts for women in party-linked outfits despite the IUML-backed Samastha Kerala Jamiat-ul-Ulema reportedly expressing its reservations about the move. And yet, no woman figured in the list of office-bearers of the newly constituted committee of the Muslim Youth League, the IUML’s youth wing, over a week ago. The IUML leadership believes that its defectors are responsible for the Haritha controversy.
A snowball effect
Meanwhile, while the IUML grapples with the churn, the alleged misogyny in the party has triggered demands in other political parties for more representation for women. The newly constituted 56-member Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee has only five women leaders, including three general secretaries, which has become a subject of discussion. The party leadership was left embarrassed when a former District Congress Committee president, Bindu Krishna, burst into tears while demanding an assurance on her candidature in the Kollam seat in March, and the party’s women’s wing president, Lathika Subhash, resigned from her post and shaved her head as a mark of protest against the denial of ticket to her at Ettumanoor. The CPI(M), despite its tall claims about gender equality in the State, faces awkward questions about representation at times, although women are assuming leadership roles now in the party committee. It remains to be seen how many women will occupy positions in the State committee as well as the Central committee of the party. The BJP State unit underwent a revamp recently, but the party is still male-dominated. Not one of the general secretaries is a woman. The party vice-president, Sobha Surendran, often perceived as a disgruntled leader, was dropped from the reconstituted national executive committee.
Kerala has an impressive Human Development Index and has produced inspirational women leaders. But the representation of women in political parties in leadership and decision-making roles remains low. It is no wonder that the 140-member Legislative Assembly has only 11 women legislators. The recent developments are little steps towards change.
biju.govind@thehindu.co.in
