The first and only woman to become a minister and the last woman to make it to the Mizoram assembly till date is Lalhlimpuii Hmar, elected in 1987 as the Mizo National Front (MNF) nominee from Aizawl North-I constituency.
A leader of the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP) or Mizo Women's Federation laments that Mizo society being a strict patriarchal one, men are yet to accept women as rulers representing them in the law-making process.
“We are accepted when we take up men's work besides household chores, but the patriarchal-minded people find it difficult to accept us as rulers or law-makers,” she says.
Lalnipuii, a veteran women rights activist and chairperson of the Mizoram State Commission for Women, says that awareness is needed to educate society, especially women in politics.
