After the upper house of the Indian parliament passed legislation ushering in a silent revolution for women in politics, Grand Mufti of Kashmir Maulana Bashir-ud-Din described the legislation as "a great step towards women’s empowerment" and asked Indian Muslim women to join politics, according to an Indian website.
The legislation, which reserves for women 33 percent of the seats in the Indian parliament and the 28 state legislative assemblies, was passed by the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament, on Tuesday. The Lok Sabha, the lower house, is expected to pass it soon.
"This is a great step toward women’s empowerment. I would urge Indian Muslim women to enter politics and get themselves elected to parliament and state assemblies. They will have to empower themselves," Maulana Bashir-ud-Din said.
The legislation has been criticized by low-caste Hindus and some Muslim leaders who argue that not enough women from their communities will be elected to the parliament and assemblies.
In response to apprehensions about the bill is anti-Muslim, the Grand Mufti said, "I urge political parties to give tickets to women from minorities so that all the apprehensions about the bill are cleared."
"There is no doubt that the country belongs to us all. Muslims need not think that there is nothing for them or that the nation doesn’t belong to them. They should come forward and start taking part in nation building and toward self-empowerment," he added.
At least 181 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha and 1,370 of the 4,109 seats in 28 state assemblies will be set aside to women once the legislation is signed into law by Indian President Pratibha Patil, who is a woman.
Source: http://week.manoramaonline.com, India, March 10, 2010
