Suchergebnisse

Since the 50s, Nagaland has endured a relentless fluctuation between elevated violence and hopes of peace. The state has been besieged by decades of armed conflict and unrest over the Naga peoples right to self determination which was invoked on the basis of their distinct identity and unique history. The Naga conflict began with Indias Independence in 1947. The Naga leaders not only resented the subdivision of their traditional homeland, without the consent and knowledge of the Naga people, between India and Burma by the British and Indian hands, but rebelled their incorporation with the new India nation state. When their demand was rejected by the Indian state, they headed for the jungles and started a guerrilla campaign for independence. In the face of unabated armed conflict, the Indian government to repress the movement typically responded with a reinvigorated security presence and operations

One of the most trying issues in electoral studies in Nagaland is the discourse of womens exclusion from the electoral process. There is a visible trend of men dominating the political terrain across the board, whereas the participation and representation of women in politics is invisible. This result in women being outside the centers of decision-making in terms of influence and status that is available to men. Women in Nagaland have been able to strengthen their political visibility only as voters. This paper contextualizes debates over the political status of women within the complex political and cultural space in Nagaland. The structural, institutional and situational barriers in the context of womens political participation and representation are discussed.

The analysis in this article centres around three questions: First, how well informed are Naga women voters about politics. Second, whether political interest, media exposure and political discussion have an impact on women's level of political awareness. Third, whether women's level of political awareness influences their participation in electoral activities. The results indicate that a majority of the women have moderate awareness about politics. Their level of political awareness is accounted for by their level of interest in politics, pattern of media use and frequency of political discussion. The result also reports a limited impact of political awareness on women's participation in electoral activities.