Cultural obstacles to women’s political empowerment in India and Bangladesh: A comparative perspective
| Author | Mahbub Alam Prodip |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/2057891121990742 |
| Published date | 01 September 2022 |
| Date | 01 September 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Research Articles on South Asian Politics |
Cultural obstacles to women’s
political empowerment in India
and Bangladesh: A comparative
perspective
Mahbub Alam Prodip
University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh; University of New England, Australia
Abstract
This comparative case study explores the cultural obstructions that women members in reserved
seats confront with regards to their political empowerment at the local council level – in the Gram
Panchayat in India and the Union Parishad in Bangladesh. Primary data was collected from West
Bengal in India and Rajshahi in Bangladesh between July 2018 and February 2019. The results are
mixed, and varied significantly from country to country. Patriarchal behaviours are less dominant in
the workplace for Indian women, whereas major challenges for Bangladeshi women come from
their male colleagues. Proxy representation is still a significant form of male domination in India,
while this is not a serious issue in Bangladesh. However, the interference of politicians is another
form of male domination which restricts women from effective participation in local councils in
India and Bangladesh. Harassment is extensively used to control women in politics in Bangladesh,
whereas this is less exercised in India. Religion is no longer a dominant barrier to women’s political
participation in either countries. Women members in both countries should fight against patri-
archal behaviour and male domination in order to create an environment where they can talk
about women’s interests in the decision-making process.
Keywords
Bangladesh, cultural obstructions, India, reserved seats, women’s political empowerment
Introduction
This article examines and compares the cultural obstructions to women’s political participation and
empowerment in India and Bangladesh. Fieldwork was carried out between July 2018 and
Corresponding author:
Mahbub Alam Prodip, Peace Studies, School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, University of New England, Armidale,
NSW, 2351, Australia.
Email: prodip.mahbub@yahoo.com
Asian Journal of Comparative Politics
ªThe Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/2057891121990742
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2022, Vol. 7(3) 449–465
Research Articles on South Asian Politics
February 2019 and aimed at investigating uniformities and variances between the two countries.
This study focuses on the lowest tiers of rural local governments – the Gram Panchayat in India
and the Union Parishad in Bangladesh. The Gram Panchayats are local self-government bodies at
the village level consisting of between eight and 10 villages. The number of elected members of the
Gram Panchayat is not stable but varies from five to 30 members, including a Pradhan (chair-
person) and Upa-Pradhan (vice chairperson), depending on the magnitude of the population in the
district. The 73rd Amendment of the Indian Constitution in 1993 promises that the reservation for
women should be not less than 33%of the whole number of seats to be filled by direct election in
the Gram Panchayat (Kalaramadam, 2018; Rai et al., 2006: 230).
1
The Union Parishad in Ban-
gladesh consists of 13 members, including a chairperson, nine general members (male and female)
and three women members from reserved seats, elected by the direct vote of adults. Each member/
representative represents a number of inhabitants ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 (Rahman and
Khan, 2018).
2
One of the key principles of democracy is that women should have an equal representation in
politics with men. Anne Phillips (1995) has argued that invo lvement of women in politics is
essential to acquire justice, advocate the interests of women and manage women’s resources for
the well-being of society. However, women still lag behind in the formal political power structures,
both at the national and local levels worldwide (UN, 2015: 119). Men have wider engagement with
politics, foreign affairs and leadership, while women have more involvement in the private and
personal aspects of life (Zamfirache, 2010). To promote women’s presence in politics, more than
130 countries currently have gender quotas both at the national and local levels of governments
(Hughes et al., 2019).
3
Gender quotas take various forms, including aspirant quotas, soft quotas
and reserved seats (Dahlerup, 2006; Krook, 2009: 6). Academics debate whether gender quotas –
positively or negatively – can transform the features of the elected representatives and alter their
capacities to promote the well-being of their groups in policymaking and participation in politics
(Franceschet et al., 2012).
During the 1990s, Bangladesh and India adopted reserved seats as gender quotas in politics,
aimed at enhancing the presence of women in the political sphere. India has created reserved seats
for women only at the local level, but Bangladesh has implemented reserved seats for women at
both the national and local levels (Rai, 2005). Although gender quotas have brought some positive
changes in both countries, scholars have identified some cultural obstructions that exclude women
members from effective participation in local politics (Chathukulam and John, 2001; Chowdhury,
2013; Kalaramadam, 2018; Panday, 2008, 2013; Rai et al., 2006). However, there is little adequate
comparative exploration of gender quotas (reserved seats) and women’s political empowerment in
India and Bangladesh. This gap needs to be filled because the participation of women in decision-
making bodies can promote women’s desires, urgencies and stan dpoints in local policies and
budget allocations. The major contribution of this study is that it employs a qualitative research
approach to compare women’s experiences regarding cultural barriers in local councils in India
and Bangladesh. It is argued that if the patriarchal norms and male domination can be adequately
addressed, women members in reserved seats will have better opportunities to raise their voices in
the decision-making process in order to ensure rights and resources for their voters – women voters
in particular.
This article begins with a review of the literature on the theory of women’s political empower-
ment, and moves to approaches to cultural barriers to women’s political participation in India and
Bangladesh. The third section discusses the research methods, and this is followed by a summary
450 Asian Journal of Comparative Politics 7(3)
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