Mumbai, Aug 12: A national-level committee of well-known Muslims would be formed to bring various sections under a single umbrella and raise the cause of the community’s long-pending demands and aspirations, both with the states and the Centre shortly, top officials said here on Monday.The panel shall be headed by world-renowned Islamic scholar Khalil-ur-Rahman S Nomani, the pillar of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and veteran cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan with Muslim Welfare Association (MWA)’s founder Saleem Sarang of Mumbai acting as the Convener.The decision was taken at the MWA’s Muslim Leadership Summit held over the weekend where a resolution was passed to set up the committee encompassing all sects of the community from around the country.“This is one of the biggest exercises in which the Muslims have come together under a single banner.
It will study the causes of the low representation of Muslims in Parliament, state legislatures, etc., plus make urgent efforts to bridge the gaps,” said Sarang.He added that names of the other committee members shall be announced shortly and the panel would start the detailed analysis to recommend measures enabling increased representation to the Muslim community at all levels.Besides Parliament and state legislatures, the Muslims should be represented in the local self-government bodies, Zilla Parishads, Panchayat Samitis, Gram Panchayats, cooperative societies, district banks and other official-statutory committees of the government/s, he pointed out. “The panel members shall travel all over India, meet and discuss the community’s issues and chart out the way ahead with religious scholars, intellectuals, academics, youth and students plus elected representatives like MPs, MLAs, etc.
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To take concrete measures for the community’s final goals of political quotas and related aspects proportionate to the Muslim population in the country,” Sarang explained. The summit was attended by three Rajya Sabha MPs – Javel Ali Khan and Muizullah Khan (both Samajwadi Party) and Zia Ur-Rehman Barq (BJD); plus legislators like Aslam Shaikh, Zeeshan Siddique and Amin Patel (Congress), Abu Asim Azmi (SP) and Nawab Malik (NCP), all from Mumbai. Besides there were representatives of other communities like the Dawoodi Bohras’ S Bhopalwala; ex-IGP Abdur Rehman; Shias’ Maulana Zaheer Abbas; MWA GS Shabana Khan; All India Memon Jamat President Iqbal Q Officer and other dignitaries. The speakers stressed the need for continued advocacy and strategic initiatives to enhance the socio-economic and political status of the Muslims, with the Assembly elections coming up in Maharashtra and certain other states soon.
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