Shahabuddin's Appeal to Sonia Gandhi, 21 December, 99

Your support to the proposed Women's Reservation Bill, as it stands, makes its passage certain, but I request you to reconsider your unconditional support which goes against the legitimate interests and aspirations of the OBC's and the Muslims.

The Muslim representation which today stands at 5 per cent (against 12.5 per cent in population) is likely to go down to 3 or 3.5 per cent, as very few Muslim woman candidates will be fielded by the major political parties for fear of loss of seat in the prevailing environment.

Secondly, the castes which are in a position to field more qualified women will reap the benefit.

I may add that considerable opinion in the country sees the Bill not as a step towards gender justice but as a token gesture which is essentially a manoeuvre by the high castes.

I would request you to introduce amendments to the Bill to reduce the reservation to 15-20 per cent to begin with, with 5 per cent increment in every successive general election, and to introduce sub-quotas for the Muslims and the OBC women and also to propose a separate Bill requiring all political parties to include 33 per cent women in their structure and in their list of candidates in any election.

Rite to Equality

Editorial, The India Today, 1 January, 2000

.. That the Women's Reservation Bill was introduced was more a matter of posturing, of competitive showmanship between the BJP and the Congress. That little game having concluded, the larger question arises about the logic and probable upshot of setting aside a third of legislative seats for women.

It is easy to suggest that this "symbolic" gesture will go a long way in redressing traditional gender imbalances. Having said that, there is the argument that the election of a few hundred or even a few thousand, female MPs and MLAs will scarcely mean the uplift of millions of women ... In sum, will there be any trickle down effect?

The problem with (quota) is that it ignores and even militates against the idea of a national legislature, a parliament that represents the best of a nation rather than the best of its constituent parts. Democracy is an elevated idea; don't reduce it to a conglomeration of quotas. The fact that not enough women are entering public life is no doubt worrying, As the chief election commissioner has suggested, poluical parties could be forced by law to nominate a certain percentage - a quarter, a third, even half - of women candidates ... Why not give this proposal a shot?

Madhu Kishwar's Views

The proportion of Muslims in Parliament and the state legislatures does not match their numerical strength in the population ... can we consider a quota for Muslim women without conceding a quota for Muslim men? It is obvious that Muslim male leaders are bringing in the issue of religion-based quotas through the backdoor, using their women as a sword rather than fighting their battle on their own strength ... By polarising the issue on gender lines, the pro-reservationists have actually exposed the weakness in their own ranks. They claim to speak on behalf of all of India's women. Yet OBC and Muslim women prefer to go along with their men's politics, no matter how chauvinist, no matter how dishonest, rather than with the feminist lobby.

(Source: The Hindustan Times, 28 December, 1999)

Shahabuddin's Response Letter to The Hindustan Times, 7 Jari., 2000

Madhu Kishwar's article "Logic of Quotas", 28 Dec., 1999) points out several absurdities and incongruities in the current debate on reservation for women in egislatures. But she is factually incorrect when she asserts that the leadership of the freedom movement had rejected the idea of communal electorate. The freedom movement never rejected the idea of reservation for Muslims in Legislatures. Indeed it was incorporated in the draft Constitution. Only later, at the fag end of the deliberations, through a political coup d'main, this was omitted.

The freedom movement always took a stand against separate electorate (even though Congress participated in all pre-1947 elections which were all held with separate electorate). Today no one favours separate electorates. Hence a quota for Muslims based on joint electorate as in the case of the SC's or the ST's would be fulfilling the original promise in the Constitution. If reservation for women increases the degree of deprivation of Muslims from 50% to 75%, does it serve the national interest?

Women do not form a class, caste or community. Their status varies from one social group to another. It is legitimate to strive for gender equality and for women's participation in public life but the dynamics will vary from group to group. Under the existing circumstances, even if reservation is allowed for women, they shall be operating as the instruments of their menfolk, their social groups or their parties and not purely as women.

Yes, the logical course would be to provide reservation for OBC's and Muslims as already exists for SC's and ST's. Or make it mandatory, by law, for all political parties, to field a given percentage of women among their candidates, beginning with, say 25%, and going incrementally, upto 50%. This would enable women of all social groups and political linking to enter public life and to make their weight felt on all matters of national concern including the backwardness of women.