| News Details |
| Women of India want Justice, not Jumlas: Dr. Shama Mohamed | |
Jammu,September 26 (Scoop News)- Dr. Shama Mohamed, National Spokesperson, Indian National Congress today dsaud that the Women’s Reservation Bill was announced by the BJP government last week with much fanfare. While Narendra Modi wants to project himself as a champion of women, the truth is that BJP has made the Women’s reservation bill a political Jumla.
Dr. Shama Mohamed while talking reporters said that the reality is that if there is a party that has been the biggest proponent of women’s empowerment, it is the Congress. It was in 1989 that then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi introduced 33% reservation of seats for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions. In that same year, he introduced a law reserving 33% of seats in local bodies for women. However, when the bill was introduced, it was none other than BJP who opposed it vehemently. BJP veterans like Lal Krishna Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jaswant Singh and Ram Jethmalani voted against the bill. The bill sailed through in Lok Sabha but failed in Rajya Sabha by only 7 votes. Finally, in 1992, the Congress under P V Narasimha Rao who successfully implemented 33% reservation of seats for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions. In December of the same year, Narasimha Rao championed the passage of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution, which reserved one-third of seats for women in Panchayati Raj institutions and offices of the chairperson at all levels of Panchayati Raj institutions, and in urban local bodies respectively. In several states, seats were reserved for women within the quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
It is due to the inclusive vision of Rajiv Gandhi that 15 lakh women, which is around 40 percent of elected representatives in India, are empowered today. In some states, like my state of Kerala, the reservation has gone upto 50%.
Congress’s commitment to empower women doesn’t stop here. In 2010, the UPA government under PM Manmohan Singh introduced the Women’s Reservation Bill and was successful in passing it in Rajya Sabha. The Bill reserved 33% seats for women in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas, and included sub-quotas for SCs and STs. The Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on March 9, 2010. However, because of the lack of consensus, it was not passed in Lok Sabha. What is important to note, is that the Congress’s version of the bill had no conditions of caveats, such as a census and delimitation, which the current BJP introduced Bill has. The Congress’s Bill was ready to be implemented immediately.
The BJP had promised to bring in Women’s Reservation in both their 2014 and 2019 manifestos. In 2016, Congress President Sonia Gandhi demanded that Modi government pass the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha. Again, she wrote to PM Modi in 2017, saying "I am writing to request you to take advantage of your majority in the Lok Sabha to now get the Women's Reservation Bill passed in the Lower House as well. The Congress party has always and will continue to support this legislation, which will be a significant step forward in the empowerment of women." In addition, Shri Rahul Gandhi also wrote to PM Modi in July 2018 “I write to request your support to ensure the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament. As you are aware, the Women's Reservation Bill, passed by the Rajya Sabha on the 9th of March, 2010, has been stalled on one pretext or the other, in the Lok Sabha, for over eight years now. When this bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with the support of the BJP, the then leader of the opposition, Arun Jaitley ji, called the passage of the bill "historic and momentous". Why then, did PM Modi ignore all these appeals to pass the Bill?
When it was clear that the Bill had opposition support, what took the BJP 9 years to introduce the Bill? Not only was there a delay in implementation, BJP has introduced caveats of census and delimitation. Delimitation is a time-consuming exercise and also quite controversial, therefore it is not likely to be completed for several more years, possibly beyond 2029. As for the census, what was stopping the BJP government from conducting it till now? Covid is just an excuse. The government could have conducted in 2021-2022 if it wanted. These caveats are nothing but Jumlas to delay the implementation of the Bill even further.
My leader Rahul Gandhi has demanded that the BJP government pass the Women’s Reservation Bill with immediate effect. Any further delay would be a grave injustice to the women of this country. The Congress Party also demands that there must be a 33% Reservation within the quota for OBCs. Development can only be effective if it is inclusive. For this to be implemented successfully, we need an up-to-date caste census. It was the Congress-led UPA government that first conducted a Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) in 2011-12. The Modi government has refused to release these results to date. On 16 April, 2023, Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to PM Modi demanding an up-to-date Caste Census. However, PM Modi has not replied. Why does BJP not want our SC, ST and OBC brothers and sisters to get their due?
PM Modi said “God chose me for introducing the Women’s Reservation Bill”. If the PM was serious about empowering women, we wouldn’t have a situation where India’s leading women wrestlers are protesting for over 6 months against their assaulter, BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, with their protest falling on deaf ears. If PM Modi cared about women, he would have sacked Brij Bhushan from the BJP and ordered the police to arrest him, especially when there is a mountain of evidence against him.
It has been months since women were paraded naked and assaulted in Manipur. If Narendra Modi cared about women, he would have visited the state at least once. His actions have shown that he has no empathy in his heart for the women of India.
By introducing a half-baked and insincere Women’s Reservation Bill, the BJP government has effectively hoodwinked the women of this country. BJP has already delayed introducing the bill for 9 and a half years. The caveats mentioned in the bill will ensure that the bill is held up for several more years. On behalf of the women of this country, The Congress demands that the bill be implemented sincerely, immediately, and unconditionally.
The Women of India want Justice, not Jumlas.
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