KOHIMA: Despite strong opposition from various tribal councils to 33 per cent reservation for women in urban local bodies, an apex forum of Naga women has resolved to contest the municipal elections in the state due to be held next month.
The Nagaland Assembly has passed the Town and Municipal Act with 33 per cent reservation for women. Disposing a petition filed by Naga women, Gauhati High Court directed the state government to hold the municipal elections soon with the women reservation provision enacted by the Assembly.
Members of Joint Action Committee on Women’s Reservation (JACWR) said that Naga women would go ahead with what they had been fighting for a long time and would field candidates in all the reserved seats in the coming municipal polls.
“JACWR is now trying to stand consensus independent candidates for nominations instead of fielding woman contestants representing political parties in the reserved seats,” committee member Prof Rosemary Dzuvichu said. “We expect the government to give us full security, protection to our rights and also to protect the candidates who will be filing their nominations,” JACWR members said.
The state government has issued notification identifying reserved seats for women in each of three municipal councils and 16 town councils in the state.
But coming out strongly against women’s reservation in the municipal polls, Naga Hoho and Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) on Saturday petitioned before Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio demanding that the reservation issue should be reviewed during the on-going budget session of Nagaland Assembly.
They argued that the women reservation was ‘detrimental’ to Naga customary practices and the present municipal act ‘impinged on’ the Article 371(A) of the Constitution which provides special safeguards to Nagaland.
Rosemary, who teaches in English department of Nagaland University pointed out that many tended to misinterpret the customary laws. (PTI)