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.”
