indigenousnagaland #44 — All Patriarchies Aren't The Same

Awan N Konyak (IMAGE)

REF: "This patriarchal structure is as true for Nagaland as it is for the rest of India."

A female political candidate, Awan N Konyak, lost in the 2018 election in India's northeastern state, Nagaland. The woman has attributed a blame on patriarchy for her electoral loss. She has made the above remark, which is wrong and bizarre. We have enough empirical evidence to prove a qualitative difference between the two societies. Two things:

(1) Female foeticide is rampant in Indian society but unheard of in Naga society; the two patriarchies aren't the same.

(2) Rape, women safety, personal liberty, etc have shown that the patriarchies of Indians and Nagas aren't the same.

Indians have women representatives, but guess what, their women are less safe than our women, according to India's national statistics. So let's not be brainwashed into accepting that women representation is a sign of social progress — not necessarily so. Just look at Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India, they all have women representatives, but their women are in bigger chains than our women. For the aforementioned reasons, I don't like the unwarranted parallel drawn between Naga and Indian societies. Her lightheaded rhetorics made me uncomfortable. Her electoral loss could possibly have been caused by something other than patriarchy.

REFERENCES
How I Fought An Election In Nagaland, A State That Has Never Seen A Woman MLA