POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF ASSAMESE WOMEN: AN EXTENSIVE STUDY FROM MID-EIGHTEEN ONWARDS.

Women’s political participation has been the agenda of various international conferences and symposiums. Various recommendations were made to improve the participation of women in political decision making. Women’s equal participation in political life plays a pivotal role in the general process of the advancement of women. Demographically according to 2011 census women constitute half of the total populations of our country (49.5%). But the women have been politically marginalized in our country and most of they live restricted life. Most of the countries in the world have failed to give due space and representation to women in politics. The issue of women’s political empowerment comes to the forefront of the global debate for women’s right at the time of the Forth-World Conference on women held at Beijing in 1995. It declared women’s equal participation in political life plays a pivotal role in the general process of the advancement of women. The root to the participation of women in politics can be traced back to 19th century reform movement. The early 19th century social reforms and educational programmes initiated by various social reforms deals with the social evils prevalent in the society. The struggle for freedom marked the beginning of a political awakening among women in India. In the context of Assam, despite having a glorious history of women, they could not occupy good position in decision making process and party politics. This paper tries to highlight the role of Assamese women in political participation.