India, April 18 -- There are moments in a republic's life when a reform is less about policy and more about self-recognition. The passage of women's reservation in Parliament belongs to that category. It does not arrive as a sudden innovation, but as the culmination of a long, uneasy democratic hesitation that dates back to the early years of the Republic.

In 1951-52, when the first elections to the Lok Sabha were held, 489 elected representatives spoke for a population of roughly 36 crore. The architecture of representation was modest, but it carried an implicit promise that political voice would evolve alongside the nation's demographic and social transformation. Seven decades later, that promise has been only partially fulfilled. Indi...