Mumbai, April 16 (IANS) As Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav called for separate reservation for Muslim women following the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill, Congress leader Husain Dalwai on Thursday backed the demand, saying that the community constitutes 15 per cent of the population and must have adequate representation.

Dalwai further stated that political parties should be obligated to ensure that a certain percentage of their candidates come from the Muslim community, and similarly from other caste groups, to ensure inclusive representation.

The remarks come as the Centre introduced the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha, marking a significant legislative move during the ongoing special session of Parliament.

Union Minister for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal initiated the debate by presenting the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026. He also tabled the Delimitation Bill, 2026, setting the stage for discussions on implementing a one-third reservation for women in legislative bodies.

Talking to IANS, Dalwai said: “Muslims constitute 15 per cent of the population. They must have representation somewhere. How to do it is for you to decide. Political parties should be obligated to ensure that a certain percentage of their candidates are Muslims, and similarly for other caste groups. Something must be done. If this continues, they will not get representation. There is no Muslim minister — do you think that is good?”

Dalwai also reacted to an alleged religious conversion case at an IT company in Nashik, condemning the incident.

“Whatever has happened is not good and is completely wrong. No one can support it. Until society’s perspective towards women changes, such incidents will continue to occur. Whoever is responsible must certainly face action.”

He cautioned against attributing such incidents to a single community.

“To say that only Muslims do this is a misunderstanding. People from other communities also engage in such acts because the underlying mindset is flawed. Society’s perspective needs to change. I would request everyone to respect each other,” he added.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) announced on Wednesday that it has constituted a fact-finding committee to conduct a detailed inquiry into the alleged incidents of sexual harassment of women at the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) BPO unit at Nashik.

The committee will submit its report within 10 working days.

The committee, which will visit the place of the incident on April 18, comprises former Bombay HC judge, Justice Sadhna Jadhav, former Haryana DGP B.K. Sinha, Supreme Court advocate Monika Arora, and NCW’s Senior Coordinator, Lilabati, according to an official statement.

–IANS

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