New Delhi, March 10 (IANS) A top Islamic cleric Wednesday welcomed the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha, describing it as "a great step towards women's empowerment".
"This is a great step towards women's empowerment. I would urge Indian Muslim women to enter politics and get themselves elected to parliament and state assemblies. They will have to empower themselves," the Grand Mufti of
Kashmir, Maulana Bashir-ud-Din, told reporters here.
The Mufti said that since there are apprehensions about the bill being anti-Muslim, "I urge political parties to give tickets to women from minorities so that all the apprehensions about the bill are cleared".
Bashir-ud-Din heads the Sharia court of Jammu and Kashmir and is also the president of the state Personal Law Board. He is authorised to make decisions on Islamic law and issue fatwas.
"There is no doubt that the country belongs to us all. Muslims need not think that there is nothing for them or the nation doesn't belong to them. They should come forward and start taking part in nation building and towards self empowerment," he said, reacting to opposition to the bill by some parties on grounds that it is anti-Muslim.
He said that he hoped that the bill, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha Tuesday, will see a smooth passage in the Lok Sabha.
The bill seeks to set aside for women 181 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha and 1,370 of the 4,109 seats in 28 state assemblies.
| Other Articles: |
 |
Sajjan Kumar gets bail in anti-Sikh riots case (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Women's bill to go through Lok Sabha before March 16 (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Two held for smuggling liquor (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Bhopal most unsafe for women in Madhya Pradesh (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Smita Thackeray hails Sonia for women's quota bill (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Stone pelting is un-Islamic: Kashmiri cleric (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Save birds, ban glass-coated kite strings: Sonam Kapoor (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Suspended MPs should regret their actions: Bansal (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Do not use marshals in Lok Sabha, says BJP (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Forensic test results' delay keeps two Russians in jail (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Rights activist continues fast after release from jail (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Himachal to crackdown on illegal mobile towers (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
New norms for appointing anganwadi workers welcomed (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Lights out! Earth Hour back in Delhi (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Women commuters cheer as Rajya Sabha passes quota bill (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Dane held for peddling drugs in Assam (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Train derails in Uttar Pradesh (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Switch off lights during Earth Hour: Abhishek Bachchan (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Plugging police deficiencies vital to anti-Maoist drive (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Scribe who threw shoe at Chidambaram assaulted (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Ruchika case hearing adjourned till April 15 (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Shortage of 14,448 officers in Army, Navy and Air Force (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Guwahati to have first five-star hotel (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
Magic of '70s and '80s recreated at grand finale of Lakme India Fashion Week (10th Mar, 2010) |
|
India, Africa unveil action plan to boost ties (10th Mar, 2010) |
Today : Sunday - May 27, 2012, 03:40am (GMT+5.5)
