As a Muslim and functionary of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, I have many times faced questions from my journalist colleagues as well as activists that Muslim religious organisations don’t have women in their organisational structure. I have been bombarded with such questions even from my close friends in political parties and media houses.
Without being apologetic, I tell them that while their assertions are partly true, it is partly based on their lack of understanding and knowledge about evolving trends regarding women in the Muslim society.
I tell them that women’s participation in organisational matters as well as in other activities inside an organisation and outside, is in proportion to the growth of Islamic knowledge among the Muslim leadership and the general Muslim population. When I use the phrase “growth of Islamic knowledge”, I mean to say that Islam encourages women’s participation in all activities, including armed combat depending on the necessity.
Muslim women in the past have demonstrated their skill and ability in politics, administration, and military fields boldly and successfully. Undoubtedly, some decline took place in Muslim women, keeping themselves away from activities outside their homes in India post-1947; it is because of some peculiar political changes occurring under the new political and administrative dispensation that discouraged Muslim women from coming forward to shoulder responsibility in social and political organisations.
Regarding my affirmation that the representation of Muslim women in the organisational structure is in proportion to the level of Islamic awareness, I would like to present the example of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), a premier religio-cultural organisation of Indian Muslims.
One would be surprised to know that the JIH elected as many as 36 women in its 162-member Council of Representatives (CoR) for a term of four years in March 2023. This is over 22 percent of the total strength of CoR, indicating the importance the JIH gives to women, and the JIH cadres, particularly men, don’t discriminate against women for electing them to CoR, the highest decision-making body of the organisation.
It is the CoR that elects Ameer-e-Jamaat, or the organisation’s president, and takes all major policy decisions. It is like the US electoral college, where members elect the president and vice president.
CoR members were elected by about 14,000 JIH members or arkan, through nationwide direct online polling in two phases. The current CoR has a term of four years (April 2023 to March 2027), called Meeqat (term).
An essential aspect of JIH elections is that campaigning and lobbying are prohibited. Arkanelect candidates based on their merit, talent, work and past performance. Several women CoR members are professionals, technocrats, educationists like school and college principals, doctors, engineers, and many holding postgraduate degrees.
However, this is not the first time women have entered CoR. Women were always elected to this topmost decision-making body. But their strength this time is the highest ever in the new CoR that began functioning from April 2023, when the term of the previous body came to an end. Two of the JIH Secretaries are currently women. JIH also has a separate women’s wing and a girls’organisation called Girls Islamic Organisation (GIO), working on campuses nationwide.
The election of women in JIH’s highest decision-making body is quite significant because there is a lot of misunderstanding about the position of women in Muslim society in India. As the JIH Constitution is based on the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet, women’s election to CoR proves that Islam encourages women to participate actively in policy-making, decision-making and governance. JIH is the only Muslim organisation, besides the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), that has given space to women in a body that controls and manages the organisation. This remarkable achievement has been possible because of adopting a proper Islamic system in the formation and running of the organisation.
Women’s representation in the current CoR is over 22 percent, much more than the percentage of women’s representation in the two Houses of Parliament – Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha – as well as the State Assemblies.
13% Women MPs in Parliament, Below 10% MLAs in State Assemblies
According to available data, out of 766 MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, only 98 (74 in Lok Sabha and 24 in Rajya Sabha) are women, indicating women’s presence in the two national legislative bodies is merely a little over 12 percent.
The representation of women in State Assemblies is worse than that in Parliament. It is more than 10 percent in a few State Assemblies only like West Bengal and Haryana. However, in most states, it is below 10 percent. This isn’t very pleasant in a country that had a woman prime minister – Indira Gandhi – and also takes pride in having two women presidents – Pratibha Patil (2007-2012) and current president Droupadi Murmu.
No Women MLA in Mizoram Assembly
It is disheartening that the 40-member Mizoram Assembly elected in November 2022 has no woman legislator, although female voters in Mizoram outnumber male voters. About 87 percent of Mizoram’s population belongs to the Presbyterian denomination of Christianity. It is astonishing that Mizo National Front, which won the elections by bagging 26 seats, had not fielded even a single female candidate in Assembly elections. The reason for women not being fielded by major political parties is said to be the highly patriarchal character of Mizo society. Many women fielded by smaller parties failed to win the elections.
Nagaland, another Northeastern state, elected two women MLAs in a House of 60 for the first time in its history in the latest Assembly polls in the State. This means women’s representation is merely 3 percent in the Nagaland State Assembly.
The situation is not encouraging in the rest of the states. For example, the number of women MLAs in Assam under BJP rule is 6 out of a House of 126 (4 percent), 40 out of 294 (13 percent) in West Bengal, 26 out of 243(10.7 percent) in Bihar, 10 out of 81 (12.34 percent) in Jharkhand, 11 out of 140 (7.8 percent) in Kerala that has strong Leftist roots, six out of 70 (8.5 percent) in Delhi, 17 out of 230 (7.3 percent) in Madhya Pradesh, three out of 60 (5 percent) in Meghalaya,and 47 out of 403 (11.7 percent) in Uttar Pradesh, 12 out of 234 (5 percent) in Tamil Nadu, 34 out of 294 (11.56 percent) in Andhra Pradesh, 6 out of 119 (5 percent) in Telangana, 3 out of 40 (7.5 percent) in Goa, 15 out of 147(10.2 percent) in Odisha, 13 out of 90 (14 percent) in Haryana, 13 out of 117 (11 percent) in Punjab, 20 out of 200 (10 percent) in Rajasthan, 15 out of 182 (8.2 percent) in Gujarat, 24 out of 288 (8.33 percent) in Maharashtra, and 11 out of 224 (4.9 percent) in Karnataka.
India Ranks 148th in Terms of Women Representation in Legislative Bodies
The gross under-representation of women in legislative bodies happens despite the fact that females form almost 50 percent of total electorates in the country. According to data collected by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) which gives monthly ranking of women in national parliaments all over the globe, women’s representation in Indian legislative bodies has worsened in the last few decades and India’s ranking has fallen to 148th position in 2021 from 95th in 1998 and 144th in 2008. According to IPU data, neighbouring countries – China (86), Nepal (45), Pakistan(116), Bangladesh (11) Afghanistan(71), Indonesia(110), Malaysia (146) – fare better than India.
Poor representation of women in legislative bodies indicates the world’s largest democracy has much more to do about improving the conditions of its women with respect to their representation in legislative bodies. Surveys of the candidates fielded by political parties show that the parties do not field many women. The reason given by the parties is that they go by the winnability of the candidates, and not their gender. According to Election Commission of India (ECI) data, the percentage of female candidates was 3 percent in Lok Sabha elections between 1952-1977, 4 percent between 1977-2002, and only 7 percent in all Parliamentary elections between 2002-2024. In State Assembly elections, the percentage of women candidates was 2 in 1952-1977, 4 percent in 1977-2002, and 8 percent in 2002-2019. This explains the reason for the under-representation of women in Parliament and state assemblies. When the number of women contestants in elections is not enough, one cannot expect their fair representation in legislative bodies.
No Fair Representation of Women in Political Parties
CPI(M) has only two women members in its existing politburo – Subhasini Ali and Brinda Karat – out of a total of 17 members which comes to 11.7 percent. In the CPI(M) Central Committee, there are only 15 women members out of a total of 84. This means women’s representation in the Central Committee of CPI(M) is only 17.85 percent.
Out of a total of 324 members in BJP’s national executive committee, women representatives are only 42 or 13 percent only. Such a small percentage of women in the executive committee of a party that has given the slogan of “betibachao, betipadhao” is very disappointing.
The situation is not rosy even in the All India Congress Committee (AICC), the oldest political party in the country. Out of 49 AICC executive committee members, women are only six or 12 percent.