Lending its voice to the Opposition chorus for reservation of seats for OBC women within the proposed 33% quota for women, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has jumped into the arena demanding reservation for both OBCs and Muslim women.
Speaking to the media, the Jamaat’s vice-president Salim Engineer welcomed the Bill, saying, “For a strong democracy, it is important for all groups and classes to find representation in power-sharing. Even after 75 years of Independence, the representation of women in Parliament and our State legislatures is quite dismal. The Women’s Reservation Bill is a good move though it should have come quite earlier. However, the draft of the Bill in its current form does not address the stark social inequalities in a vast country like India by excluding women from OBCs, and Muslim community.”
Quoting from various reports and studies like the Justice Sachar Committee report (2006), Post-Sachar Evaluation Committee Report (2014), Report of the Expert Group on Diversity Index (2008), India Exclusion Report (2013-14), 2011 Census and latest NSSO reports, Mr. Engineer said, “They all suggest that Indian Muslims and especially women lag behind in socio-economic indices. The political representation of Muslims in Parliament and State legislatures has been steadily declining. It is not proportionate to the size of their population.”
The average
Incidentally, Muslims comprise a little over 14% of the population according to Census-2011. By proportional representation, they should have 73 MPs in Parliament. However, the figure has never gone beyond 49 which was touched in 1980, the average being around 27 MPs every Lok Sabha.
The Jamaat also questioned the timing of the Bill. “The proposed reservation will come into effect only after the publication of the next Census and the subsequent delimitation exercise. It means that the benefits of the Bill can be accrued only after 2030. Hence, we feel that the timing of this proposal appears is with an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024. It lacks sincerity,” Mr. Engineer said, adding, “One of the many ways to remove inequality is affirmative action [reservation]. Ignoring OBC and Muslim women in the Women’s Reservation Bill would be unjust and not in tune with the policy of ‘Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikas’.”
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