SOCIOLOGICAL RELEVANCE OF WOMEN IN POLITICS.

BY K P PASWAN

Relevance of women in contemporary world is much talked about subject. Women have played and are playing excellent role in politics from ancient times. From Cleopatra of Egypt to Catherine the great of Russia both played dubious role in politics of their country but they are still remembered with awe and wonder.  Than we have excellent royal women in Great Britain whose contribution to the growth of parliament system cannot be underestimated.

We have to study the relevance of women in modern times, especially after second world war which witnessed the fall of colonialism and growth of western system of democracy, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth is ceremonial head of a country known as founder of parliamentary democracy.H M Elizabeth has proved beyond doubt that it would be hard for an elected government to run administration without a ceremonial head as the royalty in Britain is the embodiment of national unity. Leftists in Britain demanded in the past to abolish monarchy but once in power they forgot their agenda.

  SriLanka witnessed the first elected women president Mrs Bandaranaike who in the decade of 1960 promoted stability in her tiny country. Several women presidents were seen in Latin America but they failed to impress the world. There were elected Muslim prime minister in Turkey and Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan was a highly educated PM of an orthodox Muslim country, she was assassinated as the fanatics disliked being governed by a woman. Benazir Bhutto had little time to devote her talent for the welfare of common people.

 South Korea had a very dynamic woman president who was convicted for accepting bribes from Samsung, she was pardoned. But this woman president played important role in maintaining economic stability of an economically advanced South Korea.

In Honduras, president election has been just concluded, Mrs Xiomarra is the president elect. The country is notorious for bad laws and order problems. New woman president has promised to crush the anti social elements with iron hand.

 At present Finland is headed by a woman prime minister and New Zealand is also headed by a dynamic woman prime minister. Unfortunately, atrocities against women have increased in these two countries but the relevance of these two prime ministers cannot be overlooked. Both these women politicians enjoy people‘s support and both are known for their good-looking face and both are not astute politician.Recently Jocinda Arden, the woman PM of Newzeland has announced her wedding after the end pf pandemic. This is surprising as she has already given birth to a child whose biological father is going to be her husband. Her action does not deserve condemnation but cannot be appreciated. She is very popular in her country because of her honest image.

 In the past Imelda Marcos was democratically elected president of modern Philippines but the lady was known for hoarding of women’s wear and her corruption blurred the image of Philippines.

 Relevance of woman in politics may be seen in the personality of Golda Meir, the late prime minister of Israel. During the Munich Olympic (1971), participating Jewish sportsmen were kidnapped by terrorists patronized by Al Fatah and the Jewish sports persons were mercilessly butchered. German spy system collapsed and the entire world remained passive, simply condemning the slaughter of sports persons.  The chain smoker woman PM of the Jewish state was not alarmed, the iron lady as Golda Mair was known, proved to the contemporary world that she was an angry tigress. With the help of Mossad, the dreaded spy agency of Israel all the perpetrators of the crimes were picked from distant lands and neutralized. She was criticized for killing some innocent persons in the process, but she became an embodiment of women’s empowerment. It was after neutralization of all the terrorists involved in Munich Olympic that a woman politician named Hanna Ashrafi played important role in negotiation between Al Fatah and Israel. Ms Ashrafi represented Palestine liberation force. She enjoyed respect in Israel.

Margret Thatcher of United Kingdom proved to be the best PM of the country known for popular monarchy and parliamentary democracy. She was a clever politician and a brilliant statesman. There were no marked atrocities against women during her tenure as PM of UK She was also known as iron lady. She openly called South Korea a criminal state for dumping cheap electronic products in UK. Right now, Chinese products are flooding the UK markets and no UK politicians dare to speak against China. Under Margret Thatcher, UK remained a superpower and Thatcher had excellent rapport with monarchy, UK had considerable influence in international politics. There was no talk of Brexit as UK retained its economic supremacy in the EU.

Two prominent politicians Mrs Indira Gandhi in India and Angela Merkel in Germany shaped the destiny of their respective countries. Indira Gandhi was a towering personality of her time. She lived and died for her country. She enjoyed the support of every section of Indian society. Her success created intense jealousy among her opponents and disgruntled supporters of her own party. Neighboring Pakistan continued to export terror and brutalities committed by Pakistani soldiers in East Pakistan created political and economic problems for India.

 During 1971 Indo Pak war, Indira Gandhi was abused by American president Richard Nixon and his hard-headed National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. US and UK sent their destroyers in the Bay of Bengal. Unfazed by such international pressure and external threat Indira Gandhi fought the war and forced Pakistan to accept humiliating defeat. Russia stood by India while entire Islamic world stood behind an Islamic Pakistan. A new nation Bangladesh came into existence because of Indira Gandhi. Internal bickering and her tough stand against Khalistan terrorists led her tragic assassination. It is difficult to say whether India in future will get such a bold PM. She imposed emergency to save India from social and political anarchy. She is criticized for suspending fundamental rights and arresting a large number of her opponents.

Second respected woman politician is Angela Dorothy Merkel of Germany. She is no longer the Chancellor of Germany. She was a daughter of a pastor but she loved Germany more than her religion. Her diplomacy witnessed the economy of Germany at its zenith and she emerged a forceful voice of EU. She welcomed Syrian and refugees from war torn Middle East with open arms. Her policy for accepting refugees on large scale created social problems not only in Germany but in entire Europe. She supported a dictator like Erdogan of Turkey just to placate Turkish people in Germany. Her currency manipulation infuriated Donald Trump, the president of US, but she cared little either for US or Russia, German MNCs are doing profitable business in China and Russia. Russia did not like Angela Merkel but there was nothing for Vladimir Putin of Russia to do anything against Germany. Angela Merkel used NATO to strengthen the economics of Germany.  She left behind a legacy which may be compared with the legacy left by Otto Von Bismarck.

 Last but not the least is the successful regime of the current prime minister Sheik Hasina of Bangladesh which happens to be a Muslims majority state. Sheikh Hasina is the daughter of late Muzibur Rahman. He was the founding father of Bangladesh and a tolerant Muslim. He was brutally assassinated by Muslims zealots. Sheikh Hasina like Golda Mair of Israel neutralized the killers of her father one by one by catching them from different parts of the world and forcing them to stand trial. She is a democratically elected PM of Bangladesh.

 Margret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi and Angela Merkel never faced corruption in their life. Attempts were made to defame Indira Gandhi but the charges of corruption remained unproved and confined to electronic media. Male dominated politics never reconciled the relevance of successful women politicians. Mrs Theresa May a successful PM of UK had to quit as her policy on Brexit was disliked by her party men. She was an honest politician.

In US, before the presidential election Bernie Sanders used insulting words against Elizabeth Warren which was widely criticized. Many women Senators and Congresswomen in US are participating in various hearings and their contributions are admired.

 It is only corruption which tarnished the image of certain women political heads and they failed to create a place of glory for themselves. Otherwise it is necessary to encourage deserving women to participate in politics, with passage of time brutalities against women may come down and that will be the days of glory. At present I.M.F and WTO are being headed by women while certain MNCs are being run by successful women but running corporate sectors and doing politics are poles apart. For politician besides being responsible for lifting poverty and increasing industrial activities are of paramount importance while corporate sector is interested in making profits and some times doing charity works just to remain in limelight.

 FINAL THOUGHT.  Women politicians are more efficient in running the administration of a country. This statement may or may not be true but in future participation of women in active politics is bound to grow and with this relevance of woman in political will assume new dimension.