Why Manipur’s Women Remain Underrepresented in Electoral Politics

Independent documentary filmmaker Meena Longjam believes that despite the Ima Keithels and Meira Paibis and other movements where women have been at the forefront, they have primarily been used as a ‘shield’ for men against attacks by the army or the police. “When it comes to important positions of decision making, we women in Manipur have not been given an opportunity or platform. We live in total hypocrisy”, Longjam told Behanbox.

The skepticism in politics is most palpable among the women in the market. We ask what they think about the low participation of women in Manipur’s politics.

“I do not care,” said Nirmala, a 20 year old fabric vendor at the market. “When it comes to big politics women can be as corrupt as men.I did not vote last time, but this time, I will vote for someone honest. Man or woman, I do not care”, she said before she asked us to leave and let her focus on her trade. 

Journalist Chitra Ahenthem writes that romanticisation of the role of women in the Manipuri society, whether as those running the markets which are an ‘remnant of the old feudal system in which the more privileged occupy the market space and the lesser privileged women are made to fight for space on the pavements’ or the protests against AFSPA, overlooks the inherent embedded patriarchy of the society, which might explain the low political participation of women in politics.

This was most evident in the electoral loss of Irom Sharmila in the 2017 elections to the state legislative assembly, say observers. Sharmila, who fasted for 16 years to demand the repeal of the AFSPA, contested elections under her party, People’s Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA). The party had fielded 4 candidates, 2 of whom were women. Najima Phumdreimayum, the other woman candidate, the first Muslim woman to contest elections in the state, had been a part of a collective of women working against on violence against women in Thoubal district. Her candidature had drawn the ire of many conservative local Muslim leaders. Both women not just lost the elections but polled a mere 85 and 33 votes respectively.

“She gave us (Manipur) 16 years of her life. Had it been a man, it would have been so different”, says Longjam on Sharmila’s defeat in the elections.

“The electorate told us that no matter what you do, or how much you sacrifice, we cannot trust you enough to run a state or make policy-related decisions. Run a market, but do not try to run a government,” said a  faculty member at Manipur University, who chose to remain anonymous.