'Equality as tradition' and women's reservation in Nagaland

Abstract

Drawing on the purported attempts to give 33% reservation to women in Nagaland's urban local bodies as a test case, an analysis is made of how misleading the presumption and claim of "equality as tradition" could be in a supposedly "egalitarian" Naga society. Patriarchally structured deliberations, consultations and decision-making procedures adopted by the Government of Nagaland and the judiciary have failed to accord equal participation and effective voice to women.