By Md. Mudassir Alam for TwoCircles.net,
March 9, 2010 is seen as a red letter in the history of democratic India as the long waited Women’s Reservation Bill (WRB) was passed in the Rajya Sabha by a majority of 186 to 1. Some see the bill as a rising sun for the women of country, while some say women got their right in the political set up. From here on the Women’s Reservation Bill will be presented in the Lok Sabha for approval. Most probably the bill will be passed in Lok Sabha and further tabled in 14 state assemblies. Finally the President of India will put stamps on Women’ Reservation Bill as the new law of the political setup of the country. After the approval from the President of India women will get 33 per cent reservation in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
History of the bill
The story of WRB began on September 12, 1996 when Ramakant D Khalap the then Law Minister during the Deve Gowda government introduced the Women’s Reservation Bill (81st Constitutional Amendment Bill) that sought 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. However, the very next day on September 13, 1996 only 230 Lok Sabha MPs showed up in the Parliament that was short of the magical number 273 required to approve a constitutional amendment. On December 9, 1996 a joint Parliamentary Committee chaired by Geeta Mukherjee, presented its report on the Women’s Reservation Bill to the Lok Sabha.
The matter of women’s reservation remained quiet for almost one and half years and was re-introduced in 1998 during Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA government through the 84th Constitutional Amendment Bill. In the year 1999 the NDA government re-introduced the Women’s Reservation Bill in the 13th Lok Sabha, and again in 2002 and 2003. An all-party meeting was called by the NDA in March 2003 and BJP spokesperson Vijay Malhotra told that his party wants the Bill passed in this session itself, with or without consensus. But the Bill could not be passed during NDA government and it became the part of Congress led UPA government’s Common Minimum Programme (CMP) in 2004. Meanwhile, in 2005 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its full support for the Women’s Reservation Bill.
Muslim girls in a political rally in West Bengal [TCN photo]
The UPA government tabled the bill the Rajya Sabha in 2008 with the intention to continue the legislation without any lapse. In December 2009 the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice, and Personnel recommended the passage of the Bill. The Union Cabinet cleared the Women Reservation’s Bill on February 25, 2010 that was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on March 8, 2010, especially on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
However, the poor floor management of the Congress led UPA government and its lack of communication with the opposition parties led the MPs of RJD and SP MPs disrupt tabling the Bill in the Rajya Sabha. In fact, the MPs crossed all the limits and put the Parliament and democracy to shame when they tore the Women’s Reservation Bill and attacked Hamid Ansari, the Vice President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. On March 9, 2010 government tabled the Bill again in the Rajya Sabha that was put into vote by the chairman.
What the Bill means
Since its introduction in 1996, Women’s Reservation Bill has been a debated topic and it had got mixed responses both in the forms of appreciation and criticism from various sects. As per the Bill the women will get 181 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha and 1,370 out of a total of 4,109 seats in the 28 State Assemblies. Of course, the Bill has been passed with the aim to empower the women of the country who didn’t actively participate in the active politics or fail to win elections because of male dominancy. But on a broad spectrum the features of Women’s Reservation Bill has totally neglected the minorities especially Muslims, OBCs and Dalits of the country. Quite interestingly as well as surprisingly the Bill seeks 41 seats reserved for Schedule Caste (SC) and Schedule Tribes (ST) around 22 per cent of the total Lok Sabha seats.
Fact is that, the Bill clearly shows the negligence approach of the two major parties – namely the Congress Party and BJP towards Muslims the second biggest population of the country. At one side these parties always make tall claims that they wish the involvement of all religious sects of the country in all fields including politics, but when talked about the reservation of Muslims a step-motherly attitude is shown. Not only the political parties, the Apex Court as well as high courts had struck down the demand or provision for Muslim reservation many times in the past including recently in Andhra Pradesh where the state government has provided some reservation to Muslims.
Muslim representation
Despite having a population of around 16 per cent, Muslims have only 5.52% representation in the Parliament. Currently there are 29 Muslim MPs in the country that include a maximum of 11 MPs from Congress Party. In the 15th Lok Sabha among 59 women Lok Sabha members only three are Muslim MPs (approx 5 per cent only), namely Mausam Noor (from Malda Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal on Congress ticket), Tabassum Begum (from Kairana Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh on Bahujan Samaj Party ticket) and Kaisar Jahan (from Sitapur Lok Sabha seat on Bahujan Samaj Party ticket).
Now coming back to the important point regarding the Women’s Reservation Bill. If the government and the opposition was really serious about the rights and upliftment of the women in the country, then why Muslim women were neglected in the Bill? We all know very well and the Sachhar Committee Report has already told about the poor socio-economic condition of Muslims in the country. As per the Sachhar Committee recommendations Muslims of the country need essential support from the government for upliftment. But the government didn’t think twice or discussed the need of making amendment in the Women’s Reservation Bill keeping in mind the dismal status of Muslims in the country.
Muslims in India are backward from social as well as economic aspects. Due to lack of education and proper support from the government the Muslims are lagging behind from other sects of the country. Women’s Reservation Bill was a big hope for Muslim women whose presence is almost negligible in the Indian political system. Need of the hour is that Muslims should now come forward and sincerely discuss the issue of their presence in the Indian politics. Today Muslims have lost their reserved percentage in the Women’s Reservation Bill and in the coming time there are fair chances that the number of Muslims may go down if the accommodating nature of the top Muslim political leaders continues. If Muslims would not have representation in the Indian political setup, then who will address the issues related to the second biggest populace of the country.