Mention reserving seats for women in any organisation and it is sure to stir up a controversy. A proposal for reserving 30% of seats for women in the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), put forth by vice-president Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, has earned the renowned Shia cleric bouquets and brickbats.
Lamenting the poor presence of women in the AIMPLB, Kalbe had recently said that reserving 30% membership was “the only option left” to ensure that women got their due in modern society. At present, of the 251 AIMPLB members, only 25 are women.
Muslim women activists have hailed his proposal while some senior clerics have described the move as “impractical” and “meaningless”. Lucknow’s Naib Imam and AIMPLB member Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali said the proposal is against Islamic tradition. He also claimed it would be virtually impossible to find Muslim women qualified to handle the responsibility. “The Maulana (Kalbe Sadiq) seems to be raising such unimportant issues only for publicity in the media,” he said.
Another board member Zafaryab Jilani said it would have been more appropriate if Kalbe had raised the matter at an AIMPLB meeting. “Increasing the number of women will not help the cause of Muslim women… numerical strength in the board itself can’t ensure better status for them in so0ciety,” he said and added that very few of the current women members turn up for the board’s meetings.
However, the Shia cleric has found support among Muslim women activists. Naish Hasan, founder-member of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), said, “Those ridiculing the importance of numerical strength should remember that in a democracy, it is the numbers game which makes and breaks governments and ensures victory of members of parliament and the legislative assemblies.”
Shaista Amber, who had formed the All India Women’s Personal Law Board to seek greater representation for women in the AIMPLB, said Kalbe’s proposal was a good start.
