American born and Indian in heritage, Anil Jethmal often hears criticism about the negative way that women are treated in India. And while he agrees that India does have work to do to engender equality, he proudly points out that India is further along than most, if not all democracies, in this regard.
The US, a democracy that has been in existence for over 240 years, has never elected a female president. India, on the other hand, has been a democracy for less than a third of that time and, on several occasions, has elected women to serve as prime minister (India’s equivalent to the US president).
Indira Gandhi won twice—in 1966 and, then again, in 1980…serving as India’s leading political figure for over 15 years.
Pakistan, which was part of India before the British hacked the country in their first shambolic Brexit in 1947, elected Benazir Bhutto twice— in 1988 and in 1993.
Bangladesh, which was also partitioned from India as a result of Britain’s nefarious divide and rule policy, has elected a woman as prime minister an astounding 6 times—Khaleda Zia in 1991 and 2001…and then Sheikh Hasina in 1996, 2008, 2014 and 2018. Combined, these democratically elected women have served for over 27 years and counting.
Not only that, Anil Jethmal observes, but both Pakistan and Bangladesh are Muslim countries. In fact, both countries were founded on the basis of maintaining Islamic values. Yet, they have voted women, over and over again, to the highest political office in their respective lands.
To that point, Anil Jethmal points out an extraordinary event that occurred in his ancestral home, India, in the election of 2004. That election was won by a woman of Italian birth and Roman Catholic faith (Sonia Gandhi) who made way for a Sikh (Manmohan Singh) to be sworn in as prime minister by a Muslim (President Abdul Kalam) in a country that is 81% Hindu.
That kind of pluralistic harmony has evaded the US political scene. It wasn’t until Barack Obama became president in 2009, that the US had a president elected who was not white, male and Christian.
Perhaps, someday soon, the US will also utilize the other 50% of its potential and elect a woman to the highest office in its land.
Anil Jethmal's Blog 
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