33% of Parliament seats will be women-only
On the International Women's Day, a minor scene was caused outside the Indian Parliament, when a woman politician came to work on a Harley Davidson. While the liberal press loved it, it caused a big ache for the security personnel.
Following a terrorist attack on the Parliament in 2001 which killed 8 guards and a gardener, all official vehicles are required to have special security stickers, which her motorcycle did not have. She was initially stopped at the gates, but the woman Speaker of the Lower House, Sumitra Mahajan, made a special exception for her. The guards were ordered to allow her in.
The major scene actually happened inside the Lower House, when female politicians like Sonia Gandhi and Hema Malini delivered impassioned reminders that a Bill to reserve a third of all Parliamentary seats is still pending.
Lower House Speaker Sumitra Mahajan allowed all women MPs to speak, during both question and zero hours, while the Upper House too gave its women MPs the first right to speak during zero hour.
The Bill was passed by the Upper House in 2010 but remains stuck in the Lower House. It entitles women to 33 per cent reservation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies; the current representation in the Lower House is 66 out of 543 — or 12 per cent.
Woman politician Najma Heptullah expressed hope that the bill would be passed this year. While women politician Kumari Selja reminded that while Hinduism has women as goddesses, women in India are not being given enough respect.
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India, yes?