The Women’s Reservation Bill has once again made the headlines. Why is this bill which has been introduced six years ago, which seems to have the backing (public, not necessarily private) of most political parties and most parliamentarians and which definitely has the support of at least 50% of the population (women) not been enacted so far?

Needless to say half the world’s population are women. In most western societies women play an equal and some times even a dominant role (as in Scandinavian countries) in the social, economic and political spheres. These gains came after long, hard battles and coincided with the industrialization and modernization of these economies. But the women in traditional, patriarchal societies like India continue to suffer discrimination and humiliation that the western women have largely overcome almost half a century ago.

The recent release of data on religions by Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India has kicked off a debate on growth rates of religions in India. There are quite a large number of ‘experts’ who are indulging in hairsplitting analysis of behavioral/attitudinal differences towards birth control among the members practicing different religions in India.  However, most of us have failed to notice that there seems to be a common bond that unites people of India with reference to their attitude towards the girl child i.e., to kill them.

If there is one word which aptly describes the nature of our politics, it is 'tokenism'. All public debate and political discourse are reduced to mere symbolism and insincere tokenism. Much of our economy has suffered over the years because of this severe flaw. But greater damage is done to the political process itself, undermining democracy and institutional vitality.