Complementarity between sexes our guiding principle: Joshi

By Kalpana Sharma

NEW YORK, JUNE 5. Representatives of over 180 nations at the United Nations General Assembly were given a small lesson in Hindu philosophy today as the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, expounded its relevance.

Addressing the 23rd special session of the General Assembly at what is known as Beijing Plus Five, the Minister presented India's progress in implementing the commitments made at the Bejing conference. He emphasised that according to an ancient Indian tradition, the concept of complementarity between the sexes, rather than conflict was the guiding principle. This intuition of complementarity was illustrated through the figure of Ardhanarishvara half male and half female.`` Modern scientific research, which has located in the left and right sides of the brain what are commonly described as male and female characteristics, confirms a truth our ancients divined intuitively.''

The Minister also held that the expression of egocentric individualism was alien to Indian social thought. Both remarks point to one of the differences in perception that exist between countries like India and the industrialised nations. While in the West, women's groups as well as governments are pushing for a recognition of all sexual preferences, the majority of the developing countries remain conservative in their response. The Indian Government had a problem with the reference to sexual preference, Dr. Joshi told The Hindu later.

This difference might appear unimportant in the overall context of women's rights. But like the issue of legalised abortion, which had held up agreement at both the Population conference in Cairo in 1994 and the Beijing women's conference in 1995, this has divided the world into liberals and conservatives, with many developing countries falling within the latter category.

The other more fundamental division, which is likely to be a slightly contentious issue at this meeting to assess progress in implementing the Platform for Action agreed upon in Bejing, is the traditional North-South divide on aid and development assistance. At every international conference, regardless of the subject being discussed, the age-old question of the percentage of GDP which developed countries should commit to aid poorer countries comes up for debate. Despite the beginning of the new millennium, this is one controversy that refuses to die down. Thus, even today in the corridors of the UN, the G-77 is ranged against the industrialised West on this issue as they discuss a declaration relating to women.

The Indian Government's public contribution to the deliberations here ended with the Minister's speech. But behind the scenes, Indian diplomats are involved in some of the committees and sub- committees where the language of the final declaration is being sorted out. India has presented a slick-looking report on the steps taken to implement the Platform for Action. Some of the data will look impressive until one comes to the chapter on violence against women. Here the National Crime Records Bureau is quoted as stating that there is a 40 per cent increase in cases of sexual harassment, 15.2 per cent in cases of dowry deaths and an alarming 87.2 per cent in the importation of girls in 1998 over 1997. This chapter also notes the declining sex ratio and the prevalence of female foeticide in at least 10 States.

Asked how he responded to the remark made earlier in the day by the American First Lady, Ms. Hillary Clinton, that dowry deaths were an indication that women had a long way to go, Dr. Joshi was defensive and said people in the West never mentioned crimes against women in their own countries. He also held that from his personal knowledge, women were responsible for perpetuating crimes against other women and said that laws alone would not solve the problem.

Eleven women members of Parliament are here as part of the official Indian delegation. But many more women politicians are expected to arrive for the meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union for which Ms. Najma Heptullah has already arrived. Two of the possible participants are Ms. Phoolan Devi and Ms. Mayawati.

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