By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,
Bhopal: Popular Front of India General Secretary K. M. Shareef has stated that the Women’s Reservation bill passed by the Rajya Sabha would not lead to empowering women, instead if it became law will further accelerate the marginalization of Dalits, backward castes and Muslims.
In a statement PFI said that major political parties like Congress, BJP and CPI (M) which were in the forefront to get the bill passed once again illustrated their elitist, upper caste and anti-minority bias. The parties like SP and RJD were not against reserving 33 per cent of seats in the Parliament and state assemblies, but they were only opposed to the bill in its present form. Still their voices went unheard. Seven members who upheld this position were even ousted from the House. Separate quota for SC, ST, backward castes and religious minorities within the women’s quota is a pre-requisite to prevent further deprivation of the weaker sections in legislative bodies.
Shareef stated that it is not surprising that the self proclaimed secular parties have also joined hands with chauvinist BJP in preventing the entry of women from backward and marginalized sections. He called upon the weaker sections to take lessons from experience, come out of the clutches of these and start building their own political parties, the statement added. ([email protected])