RESERVATION

Reservation for Minorities Before Women Insaf Morcha's Appeal to Muslim MP's and Organisations, 13 December, 1996

"Following the Submission of the Report of the Joint Select Committee to the Parliament on 9 December 1996, the Constitution (81st Amendment) Bill, 1996 which provides for reservation of 1/3 of the seats of the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for women 'is likely to be taken up for consideration, during the current Session.

Taking into consideration the existing 22.5%reservation for the SC and the ST this bill, if passed, will result in 56.00% of the seats being covered with reservation,. Thus further reducing the unreserved space available for the religious minorities and the weaker sections.

That is why, the MP's belonging to the OBC's, sofar have unsuccessfully raised the question of reservation in legislature and fixing a uniform proportion for women in each category of reservation - the OBC, the SC, the ST. This demand has, in principle, been supported by the Joint Select Committee but it is doubtful if the Constitution will be further amended soon to give effect to this demand

The religious minorities which constitute 18% of the population, specially the Muslims who form 2/3 of the minorities, continue to be under-represented in the Lok Sabha and all the State Assemblies. If they have not been elected from the general constituencies, women belonging to the minorities are even less likely to get elected from there served seats.

Moreover, constituencies to be reserved for women; the burden is likely to fall on the Muslim concentration constituencies, as in the case of constituencies reserved for the SC and the ST. Thus effectively, the Muslim representation in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislatures is certain to drop further.

The 32-member Joint Select Committee had only 2 Muslims, Mukhtar Anis (SP) and Hannan Mollah (CPM).Both have recorded their dissent. But the other Muslim

MP's in both Houses have been conspicuous by their silence. It is time speak out cutting across the party line and demand reservation for the minorities, particularly the Muslims in the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies, before reservation for women is introduced, like the MP's,

belonging to the OBC's have done.

No Muslim organisation of national eminence has spoken against this imminent threat to Muslim representation in the Lok Sabha and the State Assembly. It is time also for them to demand that the reservation for women should be introduced uniformly only after instituting reservation for the OBC's and the Religious Minorities, specially the Muslims."

Government Statement On National Human Rights Commission

West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Assam have established State Human Rights Commission.

The statute governing the Human Rights Commissions does not envisage any formal system of coordination between the National Human Rights Commission and the State Human Rights Commission. However, the jurisdiction of a State Commission is limited to matters relatable to any of the entries enumerated in List-II and List-III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution. The National Human Rights Commission is barred from inquiring into any matter which is pending before a State Commission under sub-section (1) of section 36 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. Similarly, a State Commission cannot inquire into a matter if it is already being inquired into by the National Human Rights Commission (Proviso to sub-section (5) of Section 21 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993). These provisions have been made with a view to ensuring complementarily between the National Human Rights Commission and the State Commission and avoiding or minimising duplication.

The National Commission Rights Commission has not opened offices in States which have not established their own Commission. The annual budget of the National Human Rights Commission for 1996097 is Rs. 3.00 crores.

West Bengal Minorities Commission: Composition, GOWB

Notification No. 171-PM dated 30 August, 1996

1. Prof. Syed Manal Shah Alquadri Chairperson

                 Dean of Faculty, Calcutta University

2. Mrs. Anwara Jahan Mirza Vice-Chairperson 3. Dr. Motahar Hussain, MLA Member

4. Shri Ananda Pathak, ex-MP Member

5. Shri C.N. Penn Anthony, IAS (Retd.) Member

6. Shri Ziauddin Ahmed Member

7.Shri Adi Bapuji Rabadi Member

8. One Representative of the W. Bengal Member

Minorities Development and Finance Corporation, ex-officio

9. Secretary, Minorities' Development and Welfare Department, Member

Government of W. Bengal, ex-officio

10. Member-Secretary, Member

                  West Bengal Minorities' Commission