Tea with The Tribune
Women commission to have offices in all dists.
In a tete-a-tete with The Tribune team, Shamima Firdous, MLA and chairperson of the State Commission for Women, shares her experiences
Shamima Firdous, MLA from the Habba Kadal constituency in Kashmir, is a lawyer and a dedicated worker of the National Conference. She has been appointed chairperson of the State Commission for Women, which got its head after seven years. With renewed interest on the significance of women legislatures after the Women’s Bill, Shamima talks with The Tribune team about her struggle in carving a niche in the field of politics, still dominated by men.
Two students Dinesh Bhat and Shweta Raina from Luthra Public School also joined.
Jupinderjit Singh (JJS): It must have been very difficult for you to survive in politics, which is mainly male dominated?
Shamima Firdous (SF): Yes, it is indeed difficult. The Abdullah family has helped me a lot. I am particularly indebted to Akbar Jahan, wife of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Abdullah, with whom I worked as personal secretary for two decades.
Even after that it wasn’t easy as women are looked down upon, but gradually I moved up the ladder with determination. Eventually, I won the Assembly elections from a constituency which usually supported a Kashmir Pandit leader. That gave me strength and I felt being accepted by all communities.
Shweta Raina (student): How tough it is for a woman?
SF: It is very difficult. Most men don’t want women to take over the field of power. We are relegated to lower and unimportant positions. Even for seats in a hall, men take the front seats. Every minute, a woman has to struggle to be heard and get noticed.
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria (RKK): The State Commission for Women (SCW) has found its chairperson after a long gap of seven years. How can you expect a smooth sailing in the backdrop of infrastructural constraints? The commission doesn’t even have its own building and continues to function from rented accommodations.
SF: I believe in working. Whether offices are good or bad, permanent or rental do not matter. Infrastructure problems are there, but I am taking these things in stride. Also, while trying to work within limitations, we have submitted a proposal to the government to open SCW offices in all districts.
Since, poor women from remote areas have to come to us for seeking redressal of their grievances, we must open our offices in every district to reach out to them. Till then, we would hold special lok adalats in various districts.
Archit Watts (AW): The commission also suffers from a shortage of staff. How will you manage?
SF: The commission is currently functioning with less staff. We are just seven people, but the functioning is smooth and we are putting our maximum to handle the complaints. We have also written to the government to provide more staff, which will hopefully be approved in a month.
RKK: Till date, how many cases have come to the commission and how many have been settled?
SF: Out of a total of 1,700 cases, the SCW has already settled 700 cases. The nature of cases is usually related to dowry, domestic violence, marital disputes etc.
Sunaina Kaul: Looking at the backlog, it seems that the pace of disposing of cases is slow. Why is it so?
SF: Though the commission is doing its best, some complainants withdraw their cases half way, which hinders the working. Another major reason is that the commission was without chief. Now, I am here and we will be speeding up the work and help provide timely justice to complainants.
Dinesh Bhat (student): Are orders of the commission followed in right earnest? We often read that commissions are without teeth.
SF: Our decisions and recommendations are mandatory and they have to be followed. Whenever there is a laxity, we follow it up through the government. There are several departments, like the police department, which need to regularly follow up the orders, but cops are least cooperative.
RKK: Whether the SCW takes suo-motto cognisance of cases pertaining to atrocities on women? If so, what it did in the case of interfaith marriage of Amina Yousuf, aka Anchal Sharma, with Rajnish Sharma, who was allegedly killed in custody?
SF: We do take suo-motto cognisance of cases, but I took over just a fortnight back and hence, I don’t know about this particular case.
AW: How many complaints have been lodged with the commission ever since you took over as the chairperson?
SF: I have received just two complaints (one from Srinagar and one from Jammu) till today. Both cases pertain to domestic violence. Both cases are under process and the commission has summoned the families.
Dinesh Manhotra (DM): Being an active politician, are you doing justice to your job as chairperson of the women commission?
SF: No doubt I am an MLA of the National Conference, but I have also been assigned the important job of protecting the rights of women. I am doing both jobs simultaneously without any discrimination. Being chairperson of the women commission my only job is to protect the rights of women and there is no question of implementing my party’s agenda in the commission.
As an MLA, I have other commitments which I am trying to fulfill in my constituency not as a chairperson of women commission but as a representative of people.
DM: You have been trying to rope in some NGOs to make the commission more vibrant. Don’t you think that most of these so-called social organisations have been working to get government grants?
SF: I agree. We have already received a number of complaints against some NGOs. A large number of NGOs have been working only to pocket government grants.
DM: How do you keep a check on such NGOs?
SF: Being in the government, we have different agencies to keep a check on such NGOs, especially to monitor whether they are properly utilising government funds or not. I have convened a meeting of some NGOs in which a clear direction was given to them. Further, we will also develop some mechanism to monitor these organisations.
Ashutosh Sharma (AS): The commission's recommendations for the reservation of seats in public transport, besides separate queues for women at the public distribution outlets have gone unheeded. Would you take up such issues that ask for special treatment to women?
SF: Personally, I don’t believe in that. When we talk about equality and women consider themselves no less than men, such provisions hold little significance. Today, women are excelling in every field, be it politics, science and technology, art or any other sector. Therefore, they don’t need any such privilege.
AS: For the past seven years, the scope of commission was limited. How have you been diversifying it?
SF: We have been holding various programmes like public awareness camps. In such camps, men are also invited and their views are also sought vis-à-vis women emancipation.
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