From zero to 100: How Naga women won representation in politics

Kohima: As of January 1, 2022, Nagaland had zero women politicians at any recognised level. Yet, only two years later, the state can proudly claim to have over 100 elected women leaders. How did this change take place? 

To understand this, one has to step back into history. 

Lawyers fighting pro bono, for decades

While Urban Local Body (ULB) elections rarely make news outside the state, Nagaland’s ULB elections had the national gaze upon it.

In June 2024, Nagaland held ULB elections for the first time in 20 years, marking the first instance where 33% of seats were reserved for women. The historic event is because of a prolonged and challenging legal battle led by women activists and organisations, which compelled the state government to conduct the civic polls with women’s quota.

Elections to the municipal and town councils in Nagaland were first held in 2004 without women’s reservation. In 2006, the state government amended the Nagaland Municipal Act of 2001 to include 33% reservation for women. However, the polls with women’s quota were held only after two decades.

Dr Rosemary Dzüvichü, advisor of the Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA), in a conversation with EastMojo, recalled the excitement among Naga women when the amendment to the Municipal Act was made in 2006. 

However, the excitement was short-lived as elections were not conducted even after the expiry of the 2004 body that was elected. She recounted how the NMA led a Joint Action Committee on Women Reservation (JACWR), comprising women leaders from various Naga tribes, in the fight for the conduct of the ULB polls which gives 33% reservation to women.

The legal battle for women’s representation in politics regarding the Urban Local Bodies (ULB) can be traced back to 2011 when about 30 women leaders under the banner of the JACWR met CM Rio, also the chief minister at the time. The Naga women, through a memorandum, sought the conduct of the ULB polls within one month. 

As she recounted the past, Dr. Rosemary Dzüvichü emphasised that until the elections were held, there would be no question of women’s reservation. 

She recalled Rio’s response in the meeting, where he had categorically stated that he stood for women’s empowerment but suggested that the matter be taken to court, after which the state government would act accordingly.

The meeting, she said, disappointed the women’s delegation. Left with no option, the Naga women decided to seek legal help. That was when the NMA approached senior advocate Colin Gonsalves to fight their case at the Gauhati High Court Kohima Bench. 

Dr Rosemary Dzüvichü, and Abeiu Meru, then NMA president, became petitioners on behalf of the Naga women. 

She revealed that the jury made it clear to the state government that women’s reservations cannot be deleted and that the state government must conduct the polls. 

According to court records, the State Cabinet decided on December 16, 2009, to indefinitely postpone the elections scheduled for January 2010 and to constitute ad-hoc Municipal/Town Advisory Councils to manage the affairs of these bodies until elections were held or further orders were issued. 

The Cabinet cited societal harmony and the ongoing reconciliation and peace process in the state as reasons for postponing the elections, fearing that holding them amid dissent could generate tension and undesirable situations.

Consequently, a notification was published on January 11, 2010, dissolving the Municipal and Town Councils and appointing Executive Officers as Administrators to discharge their functions until elections were held.

Challenging the order, in May 2012, the state government filed an appeal at the division bench of the Gauhati High Court. Dzüvichü viewed this as a move by the government to undermine the financially constrained women’s public body.

As legal battles could be expensive, Dzüvichü revealed that tribal women financed themselves to attend court hearings in Guwahati. 

She lightly noted, “About 50 women travelled by train to Guwahati to attend the hearing, and it felt like we were managing an excursion for women, as many had never seen the world outside our state and travelled for the first time.”

In September 2012, the State Assembly adopted a unanimous resolution exempting Nagaland from Part IX A of the Constitution of India about 33% reservation for women in Municipalities and Town Councils because it infringed upon the special provision of Article 371(A). 

After three successive hearings at the High Court, Dzüvichü said that the delay tactics by the state government, led by the advocate general, were evident. Consequently, the NMA filed a special leave petition at the Supreme Court in November 2012.

The apex court also granted the petitioners to challenge the government resolution. The state government later revoked the resolution in November 2016. Later in December 2016, the election schedule was notified by the State Election Commission for elections to the ULBS, wherein the poll was scheduled for February 1, 2017.

Dzüvichü recalled that in January 2017, the JACWR met then Nagaland chief minister TR Zeliang. After a written assurance from the state government that the proposed election would be conducted as per schedule, the petitioners left for Delhi to withdraw their names from the case because the circumstances were beyond their control.

While in Delhi, she recalled how the situation tensed in Nagaland. In the words of the state government, Nagaland witnessed widespread agitation and bandhs across the state by various tribal bodies/hohos and organisations representing the different tribes of Nagaland.

“The Government was faced with a delicate law and order situation, where various government buildings were burned down and precious lives were also lost. The state machinery came to a standstill for several weeks, as organisations called for the closing down of all Government offices and banned plying of all Government vehicles during this period,” the government had said in an assembly.

Considering the overall situation, the Government had to declare the election process to the ULBs in 2017 as null and void.

Although the names of Dzüvichü and Meru were withdrawn as petitioners, the apex court admitted the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) as the case continued. Dzüvichü revealed that Gonsalves and other advocates who represented their case from the Kohima Bench to the Supreme Court did so pro bono. 

Meanwhile, in 2023, the State Election Commission had notified the conduct of the civic polls only to be cancelled after the state government repealed the Nagaland Municipal Act 2001.

The Supreme Court then issued notices to Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio, state chief secretary and tribal leaders for repealing the Act which led to the cancellation of the proposed polls. 

A new dawn

Pressured by the apex court, the state government in November 2023 unanimously passed the Nagaland Municipal Bill 2023, mandating 33% women’s reservation in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

Nagaland CM admitted that the state ‘owes the judges of the Supreme Court who heard cases filed in the apex court in this regard and understood the difficulties faced by the state, thereby playing a significant role in guiding the government with utmost patience’, to enable the state to ensure that women of Nagaland would be given representation in urban local bodies.

The new Nagaland Municipal Act stipulates that not less than one-third of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Municipal Council shall be reserved for women, with these seats allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality.

Despite the delay in the conduct of the polls, the ULB elections peacefully concluded the ULB polls in June 2024. A total of 198 women contested the polls and 102 emerged victorious. Among the winners were eight women who won from unreserved (general) wards.  

A difficult journey:

The journey of leading a fight for women’s rights was not an easy one for Dzüvichü. 

“Naga women were born with the right to vote. So, our fight was for the ULB elections to be conducted and to bring women onto the stage. It was a difficult journey. For no fault, some of us became targets. Many thought that since I did not have a husband to protect me, they could defame and ostracise me. But they did not realise the strength of my brothers and clansmen,” she said.

With Nagaland having come a long way in accepting women in politics, she said that the present moment is a time to rejoice as history has been created with the intervention of the judiciary and the resilience of the PUCL. 

The long legal battle, she said, taught her how regressive Naga society can be. She observed that many in the state remain unaware of their constitutional rights. 

‘We are ready’

For Dzüvichü, the recently concluded ULB polls proved that Naga women are ready to be in politics. She observed that the election of the first female legislators in 2023 marked the opening point for women in politics. 

She pointed out that the ULBs would serve as a training ground for women in politics, noting how political parties sought out women candidates during the civic polls. With the participation of more decisive women in politics, she shared optimism that Nagaland’s electoral politics would change. 

She noted that the ULBs will play a vital role in fostering development in towns and municipalities, emphasising the necessity for significant improvement. She also stressed the importance of having proactive councillors dedicated to the welfare of the people, rather than solely advancing their political agendas. 

Despite the polls being conducted, a final verdict from the Supreme Court is still pending. The latest hearing on July 16 saw no arguments made, and the next hearing is slated for July 23.

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