Saleem Sarang, President Muslim Welfare Association, Mumbai.
Credit: X/@Sarangsspeaks
Mumbai: In what would be one of the biggest exercises, the Muslim community has come together under one banner to study the causes of low representation of the community in the Parliament and Legislatures of States and make urgent efforts to bridge the widening gap.
For this purpose a committee would be formed with representatives across India, according to the resolution passed at the Muslim Leadership Summit 2024, which was hosted by Muslim Welfare Association (MWA) in Mumbai, over the weekend.
The committee would be headed by internationally-renowned Islamic scholar Khalil-ur-Rahman Sajjad Nomani Sahab - who is a pillar of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and veteran cleric Janab Tauqeer Raza Khan Sahab.
MWA founder Saleem Sarang, who is a veteran social worker and politician, would be a member and convenor of the committee.
“Very soon the full committee would be announced which would undertake a detailed study and come out with measures to ensure that representation of Muslims is increased in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, State Assemblies and Councils, local self-governments, zilla-parishad, panchayat samitis, gram-panchayats, societies, committees, banks and so on,” said Sarang, while elaborating on the decisions taken in the meeting.
According to Sarang, the committee would travel across the country and meet MPs, MLAs and MLCs, religious scholars, intellectuals, educationalists, students and so on.
The conference urged political parties to ensure fair representation and candidacy proportional to the Muslim population.
“Overall, this committee will focus on securing political reservations and advocating for the rights and demands of the Muslim community,” he said.
The conference was attended by three Rajya Sabha MPs - Javed Ali Khan (Samajwadi Party), Muizullah Khan (Samajwadi Party) and Zia Ur Rehman Barq (Biju Janata Dal) and several MLAs Aslam Shaikh – (Congress), Amin Patel (Congress), Zeeshan Siddique (Congress), Abu Asim Azmi (Samajwadi Party) and Nawab Malik (NCP), Iqbal Memon Officer, President, All India Memon Jamaat, Uzma Nahid, social activist, Abdur Rehman, former Inspector General of Police, Shabbir Bhopalwala, representative of Bohra Community, Maulana Zaheer Abbas, representative of Shia Community and Shabana Khan, General Secretary Muslim Welfare Association.
The summit underscored the need for continued advocacy and strategic initiatives to enhance the socio-economic and political status of Muslims in Maharashtra.