New Delhi, February 26 All India Milli Council (AIMC) has strongly condemned the approval of the Women Reservation Bill 2008 in its original form by the Union Cabinet at its meeting held on February 25.

AIMC General Secretary Dr Mohammed Manzoor Alam said it was pity that the Central Government gave a nod to the Bill that “amounted to injustice against the women belonging to minorities, Dalits and other backward classes.” He said the future course of action would, however, be decided in consultation with the Speaker at the Business Advisory Committee meeting as the Bill was the property of the Rajya Sabha.  

Dr Alam said he wrote a letter to the United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Ms Sonia Gandhi Thursday urging her not to allow in any case the Women Reservation Bill to get a nod in its present form and make necessary amendments to have a quota for Muslim, other minority and Dalit women within the quota for the women. It is to point out that this was his third letter preceded by two letters dated July 2 and November 16, 2009 to the UPA Chairperson.

AIMC leader said the proposed 33 per cent quota in legislatures for women would lead to further asymmetry in the representation of various classes and groups in the country. He condemned the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice and Personnel submitted to the government in December 2009 upon whose recommendation the nod to the Bill in its “present form” had been given.

Dr Alam said while drawing her attention towards the pitiable status of the Muslim women in Parliament in his last letter it had been pointed out that only 14 Muslim women out of 7906 persons were elected as Members of 15 Lok Sabhas from 1952 to 2009.

According to the AIMC General Secretary, Muslim women constituted only. 17% out of total 7906 members and 2.5 % out of 542 women of 15 Lok Sabhas in 57 years. Besides, there were only nine Muslim women from Congress, two from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and one each from Samajwadi Party (SP), National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), respectively.

“So far as representation of Muslim women from different states are concerned, only 6 from UP, 3 from Assam, 2 from Jammu and Kashmir, one each from West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, respectively were elected in Independent India,” he pointed out.