The married woman is the muse for poll strategists in Mizoram as party candidates rack their brains on ways to woo the huge female electorate, which is likely to determine the May 2 verdict in the state. Women voters outnumber men by more than 9,000 in Mizoram and it does not take a social scientist to understand that poll parties cannot afford to ignore their woes.
On top of every party’s poll agenda is the promise to change the customary laws to empower women and remove discriminatory divorce clauses.
In Mizoram, all that a man needs to do to divorce his wife is mouth three little words, “ka ma che”, quite like the Muslim talaq.
Once divorced, a woman is allowed to take with her only hmeichhe thuam (personal belongings) and her clothes.
If the cause of divorce is a charge of adultery against the wife, then she is not allowed to take with her even the clothes she is wearing.
In October last year, the state government issued an ordinance to enact the Mizo Divorce Law, which overrides the customary law that does not give Mizo women any right over family property or her children after separation from her husband.
According to the ordinance, if any one of the couple wants a divorce, he or she must approach the court and submit a petition. Summary divorce is illegal.
Mizo women, under the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl, have been fighting for the amendment of the customary laws for the past 40 years.
The cries for change have now become a campaign issue for the Lok Sabha polls, with both the Congress and the Mizo National Front-People’s Conference combine vowing the rectify the glitches.
Women are more than pleased.
“It will be wonderful if married Mizo women are saved from their indignity in cases of divorce,” said a Mizo woman working in a state government office in Aizawl.
As campaigning gathers steam, with hillside meetings and assemblies in the valley, the parties are getting their scripts ready on women’s empowerment.
Though posters are much more visible in other states, the occasional blaring of the loudspeaker lets you know of the poll fever in this state.
It is a four-cornered tussle for the lone Mizoram Lok Sabha seat, with 629,155 voters.
While 73-year-old C.L. Ruala, a former minister in the Mizoram cabinet and three-time MLA in the Assembly, is the Congress candidate, the MNF-PC combine is backing 65-year-old Church leader and former college lecturer H. Lllungmuana.
The two other candidates in the fray are Rualpawla, an Independent supported by a religious party, Israel National Front, and Lalawmpuia Chhangte, another Independent.
Fresh from an Assembly election win after having wrested power from the Mizo National Front, the Congress is exuding confidence.
State Congress leader and chief minister Lalthanhawla told The Telegraph that the party would stress on modernisation of farming, broadening of horticulture base, increasing the literacy rate, and setting up of industries and power houses.
He feels that his party will score a third victory in a row, given Ruala’s inimitable performance in the Assembly and village council polls.
Congress candidate C. Silvera won the Lok Sabha polls for three consecutive terms in a row since 1989.
“We will come up trumps this time too, as we have the people’s surging goodwill behind us,” Lalthanhawla said.
With 42 years of work beh-ind him, Ruala said his experience would keep him in good stead.
The MNF spokesman F. Aithinga, on the other hand, hopes to reverse the Congress tide, banking on a rerun of Lallungmuana’s 1998 win.
Poll gazers, however, have observed that the party which is in power in the state usually wins the parliamentary elections too.
Judging by this trend, K. Zabiaka, a poll observer in Mizoram, said the state ruling party’s candidate generally stands a chance of emerging victorious.
But going by Lallungmuana’s popularity ratings, it will not be cake walk for the Congress this year.
Top
Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090403/jsp/northeast/story_10764156.jsp
.::. All my articles can be view here: MELTED HEARTS .::.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=2801741a-f59b-4686-9a57-f1ac11c867bd)
On top of every party’s poll agenda is the promise to change the customary laws to empower women and remove discriminatory divorce clauses.
In Mizoram, all that a man needs to do to divorce his wife is mouth three little words, “ka ma che”, quite like the Muslim talaq.Once divorced, a woman is allowed to take with her only hmeichhe thuam (personal belongings) and her clothes.
If the cause of divorce is a charge of adultery against the wife, then she is not allowed to take with her even the clothes she is wearing.
In October last year, the state government issued an ordinance to enact the Mizo Divorce Law, which overrides the customary law that does not give Mizo women any right over family property or her children after separation from her husband.
According to the ordinance, if any one of the couple wants a divorce, he or she must approach the court and submit a petition. Summary divorce is illegal.
Mizo women, under the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl, have been fighting for the amendment of the customary laws for the past 40 years.
The cries for change have now become a campaign issue for the Lok Sabha polls, with both the Congress and the Mizo National Front-People’s Conference combine vowing the rectify the glitches.
Women are more than pleased.
“It will be wonderful if married Mizo women are saved from their indignity in cases of divorce,” said a Mizo woman working in a state government office in Aizawl.
As campaigning gathers steam, with hillside meetings and assemblies in the valley, the parties are getting their scripts ready on women’s empowerment.
Though posters are much more visible in other states, the occasional blaring of the loudspeaker lets you know of the poll fever in this state.
It is a four-cornered tussle for the lone Mizoram Lok Sabha seat, with 629,155 voters.
While 73-year-old C.L. Ruala, a former minister in the Mizoram cabinet and three-time MLA in the Assembly, is the Congress candidate, the MNF-PC combine is backing 65-year-old Church leader and former college lecturer H. Lllungmuana.
The two other candidates in the fray are Rualpawla, an Independent supported by a religious party, Israel National Front, and Lalawmpuia Chhangte, another Independent.
Fresh from an Assembly election win after having wrested power from the Mizo National Front, the Congress is exuding confidence.
State Congress leader and chief minister Lalthanhawla told The Telegraph that the party would stress on modernisation of farming, broadening of horticulture base, increasing the literacy rate, and setting up of industries and power houses.
He feels that his party will score a third victory in a row, given Ruala’s inimitable performance in the Assembly and village council polls.
Congress candidate C. Silvera won the Lok Sabha polls for three consecutive terms in a row since 1989.
“We will come up trumps this time too, as we have the people’s surging goodwill behind us,” Lalthanhawla said.
With 42 years of work beh-ind him, Ruala said his experience would keep him in good stead.
The MNF spokesman F. Aithinga, on the other hand, hopes to reverse the Congress tide, banking on a rerun of Lallungmuana’s 1998 win.
Poll gazers, however, have observed that the party which is in power in the state usually wins the parliamentary elections too.
Judging by this trend, K. Zabiaka, a poll observer in Mizoram, said the state ruling party’s candidate generally stands a chance of emerging victorious.
But going by Lallungmuana’s popularity ratings, it will not be cake walk for the Congress this year.
Top
Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090403/jsp/northeast/story_10764156.jsp
.::. All my articles can be view here: MELTED HEARTS .::.
No comments:
Post a Comment