Women candidates sidelined in Lebanon vote

Women candidates sidelined in Lebanon vote, Dawn.com, Friday, 29 May, 2009

   BEIRUT: Although Lebanon prides itself as a pioneer of women’s lib in the Arab world, it lags behind some of its more conservative neighbours as it readies for an election where at best just four out of 128 seats are likely to be won by women.

‘Lebanese society is more patriarchal than we like to think,’ said Fahima Charafeddine, a sociology professor at the state-run Lebanese University.

‘It took us 50-plus years to get to 4.7 per cent representation in parliament, and I can’t imagine how long it will take to reach equality.’

Half a century after women won the right to vote in Lebanon, they currently occupy only six seats in parliament while neighbouring countries are witnessing a rapid rise in female participation and representation in politics.
In Kuwait, for example, where 21 parliamentary seats were up for grabs this month, four women were elected. Syria, which has a 25 per cent quota for women, currently boasts 31 women out of 250 MPs. Iraq too has a 25 per cent quota for its 275-seat parliament.

A total of 587 candidates have thrown their hats into the ring for Lebanon’s June 7 election, which pits the Sunni-led parliamentary majority against a Hezbollah-led alliance.

Only 12 candidates are women and, in a country where political dynasties rule, few are likely to cross the finish line. Three of the 12 are backed by the current ruling majority, one by the opposition and eight are running as independents.

Those most likely to make it to the next assembly are the relatives or spouses of political leaders, such as current MP Sethrida Geagea, wife of right-wing Christian leader Samir Geagea, and education minister Bahia Hariri, sister of slain ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.

‘In no way are Lebanese women represented fairly,’ said candidate Therese Rizkallah, one of the few women to have served in Lebanon’s general security service and who holds the rank of colonel.

The mother-of-two said she was campaigning for Lebanese who have no political backing, and particularly for women.

‘I don’t want anyone to undermine women in my country, a civilized country where women are still marginalised,’ she told AFP.

‘I made it to the rank of colonel on my own and running for the election is at least a way to make our voices heard.’

One of the most familiar faces among the candidates is Nayla Tueni, daughter of journalist and MP Gebran Tueni who was killed in a 2005 bombing.

Tueni, at age 26 the youngest candidate, is running for the same seat held by her father and is among the women most likely to make it to parliament.

Surrounded by pictures of her father in the offices of An-Nahar, the prominent newspaper founded by her grandfather, Tueni said it was for women like her to encourage others to take a more active role in politics.

‘There are a few self-made women, certainly, but it’s true that many women — wives and daughters — arrive in parliament in mourning clothes,’ she told AFP. ‘But it’s good that Lebanon has more women in parliament, it’s really about time.’

In 2005, a national commission tasked with drafting a fairer electoral law suggested a quota for women candidates be set at 30 per cent but the article has yet to be passed.

Lebanese women were granted suffrage in 1953, but it was not until 1974 that they were allowed to travel without having to secure their spouses’ permission.

Ten years later another law was passed letting them open businesses without the approval of their husbands, but women still do not have the right to grant citizenship to their children or spouses.

Charafeddine, an active feminist, says Lebanon has a long way to go before it overturns its age-old patriarchal traditions.

‘Lebanon suffers from a kind of schizophrenia,’ she told AFP. ‘There is the facade of modernity which is reflected in appearances — go to any restaurant and the girls dress like they were in Europe.’

Yet while Lebanese women are regular citizens in terms of responsibilities, she added, they are far from equal in terms of rights.

‘In that sense, the Lebanese woman is a second-class citizen,’ Charafeddine said. ‘The Lebanese woman will be the last to secure her rights in the Arab world.’

Bangladesh’s Women are in the House

Hana Shams Ahmed, Bangladesh’s Women Are In The House,  Womens Feature Service, News Blaze, May 26, 2009.

 

At a public meeting in Noakhali district in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh, Agriculture Minister Motia Chowdhury had a strange encounter. Throughout the proceedings, a group of men stood with their backs toward her. The men, as it turned out, were conservative Muslim clerics, who found it difficult to accept a woman as a leader, but at the same time could not pass up the opportunity of listening to her speech.

Chowdhury is a leading woman politician in Bangladesh. Her involvement in politics goes back to Eden Girls’ College in Dhaka where she became vic

e president of the students’ union in 1963. She served a jail sentence for political activities in 1964-65 and actively participated in the liberation movement in 1971. In 1990, Chowdhury also actively took part in the movement against the rule of the Ershad junta, which ultimately ended an eight-year military rule. After democracy was restored in 1991, she was one of the few women to win a non-reserved seat in parliament. (In the original constitution, 15 seats were reserved for women. By 2004, this rose to 45 seats.) Chowdhury served as the Agriculture Minister in the Awami League (AL) government from 1996-2001. And is heading the same ministry in the recently elected AL government. Her feisty personality and determination to break barriers in a patriarchal political set-up has earned her the title ‘Agni Konna’ (daughter of fire).

Such passionate involvement in street politics was certainly not conventional in the 1960s, when Bangalis were considered ‘lesser beings’ by the West Pakistani rulers. Now, the paradox is that the most powerful political position in the country has belonged to two women for the last 18 years. Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, as leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (centre-right and Islamist-leaning) and the Awami League (centre-left), have alternated as Prime Minister since 1991.

But this has not created a feminist-friendly Bangladesh, and has not made enough of a difference in the lives of women struggling to make it in politics. One can argue that Zia and Hasina first got their jobs by virtue of being the wife and daughter of murdered leaders, which is more about dynasty politics than women’s achievements. Even now, when politics is still mostly in the hands of men, it is actually Chowdhury’s tenacious stay that is an achievement looked up to by women politicians of this generation.

In the December 2008 election, AL won with an overwhelming majority. Considered the more progressive and secular of the two political parties, the promise of a trial of the 1971 war criminals and ‘a digital Bangladesh’ were two of the main factors behind their popularity, especially with young and first time voters. A record 85 per cent of the total eligible voters voted last year. What was also overwhelming was the number of women voters – a total of 4.12 crore – which is more than half of the total voters. The 2009 parliament has 63 women lawmakers, the highest number to date. The fact that women have won through direct elections shows that there is a change in the mindset of voters. Women voters certainly are hoping that mainstream politics scenario will change with more representation of their issues.

The government has promised to be a ‘government of changing the days’. Hasina’s choice of cabinet members was accepted as a bold and pleasant surprise among progressive circles. Three of the most important ministries are headed by women – Advocate Sahara Khatun, 66, a member of the International Women Lawyers’ Association and the International Women’s Alliance, was given the Ministry of Home Affairs; Dr Dipu Moni, a Johns Hopkins graduate medical doctor and also an Advocate of the Bangladesh Supreme Court, was appointed as the first woman Foreign Minister of a South Asian country; and Chowdhury was once again appointed the Agriculture Minister. Another woman, Begum Munnujan Sufian, was given the portfolio for Labour and Employment.

This is not the first time that women have been ministers. The BNP-led coalition government of 2001-06 had four women cabinet ministers in an over-sized 62-member cabinet. The Minister for Women and Children Affairs, Minister for Cultural Affairs and the Adviser for Primary and Mass Education and the Prime Minister herself were the women in the cabinet. However, what is to be noted is the qualitative difference in the portfolios given to women. The women were only given development-related ministries, while the politically and financially important ones went to the men. By contrast, the current government has given powerful posts to women, which also has led to some challenges, as they are more under media spotlight.

In the four months it has been in power, the new government has already faced many acid tests. Prices of essentials have been on the rise and everyone has been wary about investing their money. Migrant worker remittances, which is the second highest foreign currency earner, has slowed down and may see a steeper drop, as the Middle East gets further hit by the global recession. Foreign Minister Dipu Moni recently visited Malaysia after the government cancelled the visas of 55,000 migrant workers. Home Minister Sahara Khatun has already faced calls for resignation over her handling of the massacre of 74 people, including 57 high-level army officers in the recent Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutiny. Certain right-wing groups have already blamed her poor handling of the negotiations on the fact that she is a woman (apparently hostage negotiations are a “man’s job”). In spite of these setbacks, it is still hoped that the female ministers will prove their worth and stay in the government.

Despite having women politicians and women in leadership positions, domestic violence and sexual harassment continue to be part of daily life. There are still many discriminatory laws in Bangladesh that need urgent amendment. The reservation on some clauses on CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women) is a case in point. Successive governments have failed to address the discrimination in the laws of inheritance, citizenship and family laws. Religious groups have always successfully objected to any discourse on changing these laws. Male politicians have never made any serious effort to bring about gender equity.

The hundreds of thousands of women who lined up last December to vote for their leaders did so with hope of change. While there is still a long way to go before participation of women in politics is at a significant level, the new cabinet marked a small but significant shift. Feminists must fight to make sure there is no looking back from here.

 

Womens Feature Service covers developmental, political, social and economic issues in India and around the globe. To get these articles for your publication, contact WFS at the www.wfsnews.orgwebsite.

What women want: MPs take note!

Pamela Philipose, What women want, Hindustan Times, May 25, 2009.

Memories of the elections have already been swept away in the hurly-burly of government formation. But rewind for a moment to those who queued up under the punishing sun to cast their votes with the hope of change. Women constitute around 340 million of the 710 million voters, a largely silent category whose concerns have been ignored, underplayed or denied by successive governments.

 

Will the newly-sworn-in government do more than continue with ritualistic posturing and ineffectual policy-making for this faceless, voiceless and largely unrepresented section?

Social philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum has listed several capabilities she sees as central for “truly human functioning”. Let’s highlight some of these to help evolve a roadmap for the future. On top of Nussbaum’s list is ‘Life’: the ability to live to the end of a human life of normal length. ‘Bodily Health’ and ‘Bodily Integrity’ are the other central capabilities she sets down. The first of these requires nourishment and shelter; the second, the capacity to move freely while being secure against bodily assault. ‘Senses, Imagination and Thought’ are other requirements that figure on the list, and which hinge on education. Finally, there is ‘Control over One’s Environment’.

Many concerns emerge from Nussbaum’s central capabilities. Take the first, ‘Life’. India’s skewed sex ratio and son preference. The government’s approach to what is arguably one of the greatest challenges facing Indian society has been to enact a law. But not only have advances in medical technology outpaced the law; laws in themselves are only as effective as society’s ownership of them. That is why the legal process that seeks to outlaw female foeticide can only work if it partners social movements working to change women’s realities.

Bodily Health’ in Nussbaum’s list takes us to India’s high maternal mortality rate (MMR), with recent estimations putting it at 450 per 100,000 live births. Since the foundational physical cause for women dying in childbirth is anaemia, the high MMR points to the breakdown of healthcare delivery and the lack of proper nutrition. Linked to this is early marriage. Despite a slew of laws prohibiting early marriage, India accounts for over 40 per cent of underage marriages globally. This has implications for maternal mortality levels.

The lack of women’s agency in marriage and childbirth is a pivotal factor for women being in a social trough. Data shows that women who had studied for 12 years or more, were employed and earned an independent income could exercise greater autonomy over such issues. What is needed, then, is interlinked action rather than separate and discrete interventions.

This brings us to the denial of eight years of schooling. According to National Sample Survey Organisation data, school has never been a part of life for over 15 per cent of girls between the ages of 5-14, and one in five drop out by 14. We then come to the lack of an enabling environment for women’s employment. Not only is women’s representation in public employment dismal, their wages are roughly half that of men and the conditions of work do not cater to their specific needs, such as childcare. The sluggish pace of legal reform is another concern. Our new law-makers could, for instance, consider important legal reform, including legislation that recognises women’s economic contribution within the family.

Nussbaum’s highlighting of ‘Bodily Integrity’ brings us to yet another concern. Today, rape is one of the fastest growing crimes in India and the required State machinery to assist rape survivors is almost non-existent.

Finally, the lack of meaningful political participation, which, according to Nussbaum, falls in the category ‘Control Over One’s Environment’. A measure like the Women’s Reservation Bill, now hanging in limbo in the Rajya Sabha, can only be one among several initiatives to deepen women’s participation in democracy. A moment that has seen the highest ever number of women being elected to Parliament in India’s history is the right time to start. For those hundreds of thousands of women, who queued up outside polling stations this summer, the act of exercising their vote should mark the beginning, not the end, of the process of change.

(Pamela Philipose is director of Women’s Feature Service)

See also: “WHERE ARE THE WOMEN?” – Women’s groups ask political parties, March 26, 2009.

“Why is that name hidden in my consciousness?”

I just finished reading a translated anthology of Lalithambika Antherjanam’s stories and autobiographical essays. The excellent introduction by the translator, Gita Krishnankutty, opens the evocative world of her writing. As I read these stories, I was in the villages of Kerala, eavesdropping on conversations and soaking in the smells and sounds. I might add, I have never been to Kerala.

I strongly recommend these stories. Just as stories. And then if you are so inclined, you will get a lot out of them here and there.

What I really want to share here is a short extract from one of the stories in which the protagonist is a prominent social worker. The story is called “Come back” or “Thirike Varu.”

“Whenever I think about women’s associations, Bhanumathi Amma comes to mind. Not that it is important in any way, I just think of her, that’s all. I’ve called a number of young social workers Bhanumathi amma by mistake, and then corrected myself. How forgetful I am! Why is that name hidden in my consciousness? Young girls today know very little about Bhanumathi Amma. I wonder what they would think of her?

There have been no women in our part of the country whose names posterity found it worthwhile to cherish. And even if there were, no one would ever have heard of them. A young poet once teased me, “Here they come, the great ones, claiming descent from the Rani of Jhansi and Padmini Devi! Tell me, is there a single Malayali woman who has distinguished herself for her contribution to art or literature, or social service, or even music?”

I was furious. I said, “There were mothers who bore children who did these things. Isn’t that enough?”

This retort may have been made purely in self-defense, or in utter helplessness–for I had no answer. Anyway, I didn’t bother to invent a list of names that one could conceivably be proud of. Or condemn.”

I will leave it to you to discover the rest of this story, but I was so struck by this piece. This is the way it often is when we talk about wanting to document the work of women in the public sphere.  A little mocking. A little dismissive. A little questioning: is this really necessary? And doubting for sure, like the narrator in this story: are there any women who have actually made a difference?

Of course there are. And they are often people in our own lives. Political acts are not always big acts. Public-mindedness is not always publicity-seeking. So who are these people whose names we carry with us but whose accomplishments are hidden in our consciousness? Who are these people in your life? Do write in and tell us. And send a photo too if you have one.

Mind the gender gap: Rohini Nilekani

Rohini Nilekani, Mind the gender gap, Live Mint, May 21, 2009.

(We were sent this link by our friends at Pratham Books.)

Twenty-five years ago, I used to volunteer with Vimochana, a women’s group that focuses on violence against women. At that time in Bangalore, dowry deaths were particularly disturbing, and much work was being done to raise awareness about the issue.

On a day when papers reported five cases of unnatural deaths of women in the city, I had occasion to catch up with Vimochana’s indefatigable Donna and Madhu again.

As we sat down to a tasty, healthy lunch in their community kitchen, I asked them what had changed in their work. With so much progressive legislation—the Dowry Prohibition Act, the right of women to their share of family property, laws against sex determination and selection, laws against child labour and with all our progressive policies such as free education for girls in many states, financial inclusion through self-help groups, pension for widows, and so on—surely things have improved tremendously in this quarter century?

Not only does violence against women continue in the old brutality, it is taking new bewildering forms

No. That was the short answer. Not only is violence continuing in the old brutality, it is taking bewildering new forms. With the right to their inheritance enshrined by law, married women find that in spite of the hefty dowry they brought in, their in-laws are demanding they ask for a share of their family property as well. This creates tremendous tension in the maternal home, especially with the bride’s brothers, and jeopardizes the idea of the mother’s home as a safe haven in a crisis.

In another ironical twist, with easy access to credit made possible through the self-help group movement across the country, prospective grooms are now demanding higher dowry which must be paid for through ever more loans from the friendly neighbourhood bank!

Too often, families seem quite unable to reject and resist the coercion. Dangerously, they prefer the easy way out. Just don’t have daughters. Donna described the uphill struggle against the one-stop female foeticide shops in the newly prosperous farming community of Mandya district, not far from Bangalore. Just wait till the next census, she tells me. The sex ratios will tell a horrible story. Already, in some parts of the country, they are falling to as low as 820 women to 1,000 men.

The more things change, the more they can remain the same for women. Clearly, the values behind the progressive laws and policies have simply not permeated through our societies. Women’s activists are now going through a drastic rethink, turning the theories of women’s empowerment on their head.

World over, studies have shown a positive correlation between women’s development and economic progress. In India, we seem to have had a burst of economic growth riding on global trends, but not enough to show on women’s development. The World Economic Forum releases an annual global gender gap index. The report examines four areas of inequality between men and women—economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment and health and survival. In 2008, India ranked an abysmal 113 out of 130 countries listed.

This remains the biggest unfinished agenda for the nation, the critically important task in front of a new government. Almost one half of the population remains vulnerable to all manner of abuse and injustice. Just making more laws is just not going to work. Vimochana even urges, quite counter-intuitively, that we could abolish the Dowry Prohibition Act which narrows the scope of inquiry into violence against women. There are enough other laws to bring perpetrators to book. But the issue is less about retributive justice and more about prevention. There has to be, they say, an urgent review of current laws to legitimize a different language of justice, a justice without revenge, a restorative justice.

Most activists say that to make a real difference, we need to go beyond economic indicators and establish broader guidelines by which we determine a successful society. Economic progress alone does not ensure that women are treated better at home and at work. If anything, the evidence they come up against every day is that a more materially oriented society creates crushing newer forms of dominance.

In the corporate world, too, there can be a creative rethink on this issue. Far too often, the argument for women’s participation is made through the business case alone. A recent Ernst and Young report suggests that the world can use the strengths of women to rebuild the world economy. Through many examples and studies, it shows how gender diversity in the workplace and on the boards of corporations leads to a much healthier bottom line for the company. That is fine and wonderful. But if you look through the lens of women’s empowerment, it is not enough. The single bottom line cannot give you the true picture, not even about the women inside an organization and their well-being.

So where is the hope? Political representation at all levels can help us reimagine the role of the state, for one. The new Parliament has more women members than ever before. There is a fresh opportunity to do much more, and differently, provided our women MPs do not themselves get co-opted by the system.

Not a good news day for women?

Thursday morning has opened with all sorts of bad news for women.

PTI, 7-yrr-old found dead in Maharashtra BJP chief’s car, IBNLive, May 21, 2009.

Swati Vashishtha, Rajasthan top cop exhibits gender bias, faces flak, IBNLive, May 21, 2009. Related to this: Rajasthan to raise woman commando unit, ZeeNews, January 12, 2009.

Also: another Nicholas Kristof column: After Wars, Mass Rapes Persist, New York Times, May 20, 2009.

Maternal mortality in Sierra Leone

 Nicholas Kristof, This Mom didn’t have to die, New York Times, May 17, 2009.

Violence against women with disabilities

Swagata Raha, Protecting women with disabilities from violence, Infochange India, May 2009.

Rape as a weapon of war: Africa report

Rape is widespread weapon of war in Africa: Expert, Hindustan Times, May 14, 2009.

Hundreds of thousands of women, girls and babies have been raped during 12 years of conflict in eastern Congo, victims of a weapon of war that almost always goes unpunished, an expert told U.S. senators Wednesday.

Similar atrocities have occurred in Darfur, the devastated western Sudan region where the United States said in 2004 that genocide was occurring. Women also have been targeted on a wide scale in recent decades during wars in Asia and Europe. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard testimony on the plight of women caught up in violence, emphasizing the Darfur and Congo disasters.

Melanne Verveer, the State Department’s ambassador-at-large for

global women’s issues, said 1,100 rapes are reported every month in the Congo battle area, “which is 36 women and girls raped each day.” Many are maimed by their attackers as well, she said. “Rape is employed as a weapon because it is effective,” Verveer said. “It destroys the fabric of society from within and does so more efficiently than do guns or bombs.”

Rape is an effective weapon of war because it breaks apart families and communities, Verveer said.

“In addition to these rapes and gang rapes, of which there have been hundreds of thousands over the duration of the conflict, the perpetrators frequently mutilate the woman in the course of the attack,” she said. “The apparent purpose is to leave a lasting and inerasable signal to others that the woman has been violated.” That, she said, in Congo as in many other cultures gives the victim “a lifelong badge of shame.” If married, she often is cast aside. If unmarried, she cannot find a mate.

Verveer quoted a report by the Human Rights Integrated Office in Congo that spoke of “a marked lack of seriousness” by law officers and magistrates toward raped females.

“Men accused of rape are often granted bail or given light sentences,” Verveer said. “Few cases are reported to the police, and fewer still are in prosecution. Of the 14,000 rape cases registered in the provincial health centers in (Congo) between 2005 and 2007, only 287 were ever taken to trial.

She said police lack proper training, and “there must be more focus on initiatives to strengthen the rule of law and to provide victims with access to justice while offering them protection throughout the judicial process.”

Verveer said Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, plans to visit Africa with representatives of the U.N. Security Council. One of their visits, Verveer said, will be to a hospital in the eastern Congo, where one of only two doctors in the region who are capable of the kind of surgery needed to rehabilitate women and girls whose organs are maimed by their attackers. Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer said the situation is “a shame on the human race.”

Republican Sens. Johnny Isakson and Bob Corker, members of the committee, said they plan to visit the Darfur area in about 10 days, heading first to Sudan’s capital, Khartoum.

About three important Indian politicians who happen to be women

Vir Sanghvi, Mad Woman Theory of Politics in India, Hindustan Times, May 15, 2009.
Go to: http://tinyurl.com/qgzfk

Over two years ago, during the first crisis in the UPA over the nuclear deal, I ran into a senior Congress leader on a flight. The leader had been trying to effect a rapproachment between Manmohan Singh and Prakash Karat to save the UPA.

“We have no choice,” he said. “Even if we somehow manage to do without the Left for the rest of our term, what happens after the next election?”

Did he mean that the Congress would need the Left again?

“Not only that,” he replied. “I am worried that after the next election, we will all be at the mercy of these three temperamental ladies: Jayalalithaa, Mayawati and Mamata.”

In the event, the crisis was averted that year and the UPA survived. The following year, however, Manmohan Singh dug his heels in, the Left withdrew support and pretty much everything that the leader had predicted during that conversation came to pass.

Enough has been said about the Congress and the Left – at present the Congress is trying to negotiate outside support for a minority government – but not enough has been said about the three temperamental ladies.

During the Cold War, Henry Kissinger practiced the Mad Man Theory of Politics. This stated that only a lunatic would use a nuclear weapon because the other side would retaliate, leading to a holocaust in which there were no winners. Kissinger knew that the Russians recognized this. So, the only way they would be deterred by America’s nuclear arsenal was if they believed that Richard Nixon was a lunatic, a man who would use nuclear weapons anyway despite the consequences.

It worked for Nixon and Kissinger. And I have a feeling that it will work for the three temperamental ladies. I think I will call it the Mad Woman Theory of Politics.

To form a government, the Congress needs the support of at least two of these ladies. But in every case, reasonable negotiations are impossible because all three women play the lunatic card.

Logically, Mayawati should align with the Congress. If she aligns with the BJP, then she loses the Muslim supporters she has recently gained. Moreover, Mulayam Singh links up with the Congress and gets a news lease of life. But if the SP is denied entry into the UPA, then Mulayam is finished: out of power in the state and the centre with nowhere to go.

Similarly, Jayalalithaa has much to gain from going with the Congress. Her immediate agenda is to topple the DMK government. Once the Congress allies with the AIADMK at the Centre, it will have to break its coalition in the state. At that stage, the government will lose its majority and fall. The Centre will impose President’s Rule which should allow Jayalalithaa ample opportunity to have her own people appointed as advisors to the government. And then, there will be elections which the AIADMK will win.

So it is with Mamata. Her only hope in West Bengal lies in an alliance with the Congress. And so far, the Congress has given her a good deal, denying seats to its own candidates to satisfy Mamata. Even if the Left supports a UPA government from the outside, nobody will stop her from opposing the CPM in West Bengal.

Given these considerations, it should be easy for the UPA to grab the 60-plus seats that these three ladies represent. After all, the Congress has much to offer them.

The beauty of the Mad Woman Theory of Politics, however, is that all three women can contemptuously dismiss these obvious calculations and advantages. It does not matter what is rationally in their best interests because they have chosen to portray themselves as essentially irrational and temperamental.

When it comes to negotiations, a pose of lunacy can be an enormous bargaining advantage. It worked for Nixon and Kissinger. And now, it will work for Mamata, Jayalalithaa and Mayawati.