By TCN Staff Reporter,
New Delhi: While voting on women reservation bill in Parliament deferred by a day, All India Milli Council along with other Muslim and Dalit groups, demanded for quota within quota for the women belonging to minorities and dalit communities. Marching against the bill from Jantar Mantar to Parliament Street, groups appealed to the members of Parliament to consider the genuine demands of women of marginalized communities. The bill has been already cleared by the union cabinet on 25th February, which provides for 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
Dr. Manzoor Alam, General Secretary, All India Milli Council while talking to press persons said, “We welcome the move of government to give quota to women; however, it must be assured that, all the communities should benefit from it”. Expressing his fear, he said, “the bill in its present form would further disempower the women of marginalized communities especially Muslims and Dalits. And this would lead to more unevenness in the political representation of various classes and groups in the country”.
Earlier Rizwana Mushtaq of Milli Council while talking to TCN said, “We believe in the emancipation and empowerment of women as a whole hence welcome the bill but not in present form”. Because, if the bill is passed as it is, it would not empower all women politically but a certain a class of women”, she argued.
Joining her, Archana Singh of Ambedakar Samaj Party said, “The bill in its present form is not going to empower the women of backward classes including Muslims and other minorities”. She further said, “We are not against the bill, in fact, we demand for 50% quota within quota for the women belonging to deprived communities.”
It can be noted that, only 14 Muslim women out of 7906 MPs have elected since 1952, which is only 2.5% of all the women MPs elected during 1952 to 2009. As far as representation of Muslim women through political formation is concerned, Congress has sent only 9 since independence, while BSP 2 and Samajawadi Party, National Conference and Peoples’ Democratic Party each one only in their history.
The rally was addressed by a number of representatives of different organizations, which include Naved Hamid, member, National Integration Council, Mujtaba Farooq, Secretary Jamaat e Islami Hind, Dr. Tasleem Rahmani, president, Muslim Political Council of India, Maulana Abdul Wahab Khilji, President, Islahi Movemment, Mauji Khan, Milli Council, Shahnawaz Ali Raihan, Secretary, SIO of India and others.