PUSHED TO THE MARGIN
* Four out of 39 NCW members have been
* No Muslim representative on NCW since April 2015
* Five Muslim chiefs of State Women’s Commissions
* Discrimination and injustices run across the board
* India has been reporting an average of 90 rapes a day
THE representation of Muslim women at the National Commission for Women (NCW) and State Women Commissions (SWCs) has remained hovering at the lowest levels ever since the arrival of these statuary bodies in the early 1990s, as per data by 2024, according to a new book by Mohammed Abdul Mannan, At The Bottom Of The Ladder: State Of The Indian Muslims – https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0GF1Q9R25. The book quantified Muslim presence in 150 key organisations, including Union ministries, departments, and organisations.
No Muslim had headed the National Commission for Women since its formation in 1992. Four of its members out of a total of 39 have been Muslims. Five Muslim women are among 165 chiefs of the State Women’s Commissions (SWCs). As many as 27 Muslim women are among 608 members at 31 SWCs.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) had seen 10 chairpersons since it was set up in January 1992 as a statutory body under the National Commission for Women Act of 1990 to review the constitutional and legal safeguards for women, recommend remedial legislative measures, facilitate redressal of grievances and advise the government on all policy matters affecting women.
It is also tasked with campaigning against violence against women to generate awareness in society against the social evil. It came two decades after a Committee on the Status of Women in India (CSWI) recommended the setting up of a National Commission for Women to fulfill the surveillance functions to facilitate redressal of grievances and to accelerate the socio-economic development of women. In May 1990, the NCW Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
Three months later, the government carried out several amendments and introduced new provisions to vest the commission with the power of a civil court. The Bill was passed and received the assent of the President of India in August 1990. A year after NCW came up, India ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Currently, there is no Muslim among its four members. Out of its 115 staff members, five are Muslims, including a Technical Expert. Its 42 members include four Muslims – Dr Sayed Hameed, Nafisa Hussain, Yasmeen Abrar, and Shamina Shafiq, whose term expired in April 2015.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, the rate of crimes against women in India (calculated as crimes per 100,000 women) increased by 12.9 per cent between 2018 and 2022. In 2024, the National Commission for Women received 25,743 complaints, with 24 percent related to domestic violence.
As per the Women Peace and Security Index 2023 by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security, India ranks 128 out of 177 countries in terms of women’s inclusion, justice, and security.
According to the NCRB, an average of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in India in 2022. Common forms of violence against women include domestic abuse, sexual assault, murder, female infanticide, and acid throwing.
Also on the list are rapes, kidnappings, abductions, and physical harassment for dowry. These crimes happen on streets, in and around public transportation means, schools, workplaces, public toilets, water and food distribution sites, and parks, as per reports. In 1993, 12 states set up their Women Commissions. No Muslim is among the nine chiefs of Andhra Pradesh State Women Commission, while only one had been a Muslim among its 27 members – Dr S K Rukaya Begum.
Arunachal Pradesh’s eight chiefs and 15 members have no Muslim representation. Assam, home to India’s third biggest Muslim population, also had no Muslim as its SWC chief, while one of the 35 members had been a Muslim – Shahnaz Rahman. Bihar had a Muslim, Kahkashan Parveen, as its chief out of a total of five, while one of the 20 members had been a Muslim, Safiya Akhtar Ansari.
Tamil Nadu had no Muslim among 11 SWC heads and had only one Muslim among its 28 members – Qudsia Gandhi. West Bengal’s five chiefs include no Muslims, while two out of nine members had been Muslims – Mahmooda Begum, and Mausam Noor. Chhattisgarh had no Muslim among its seven chairpersons and 19 members. Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had seen seven chiefs and 21 members without a Muslim representation. Haryana had seven chiefs and 18 members, of whom one member had been a Muslim. Jharkhand too had no Muslim among its six chiefs and 17 members.
Karnataka had seen six chairpersons and 24 members, of whom none had been a Muslim. Manipur too had no Muslim among its four chiefs and 12 members. Odisha had seen 12 chiefs while two among its 47 members were Muslims, Razia Begum and Shahnaz Banu. Since 1994, Delhi body had seen four chiefs without a Muslims while three of its 16 members had been Muslims – Farheen Malik, Yasmeen Khan, and Firdaus Khan. Kerala, since 1996, had seen seven chiefs without a Muslim heading it. However, four out of 29 members were Muslims -Noora Rashid, Dr Shahida Kamal, P K Zainab, and Nafeesa Beevi.
Himachal Pradesh, since 1997, had seen one chairperson and three members, of whom none had been a Muslim. The following year, the SWC came up in Madhya Pradesh, which also had no Muslims among its six chiefs and 32 members till now. Also that year came up the statutory body in Punjab and had no Muslim among its eight chiefs and 21 members. In 1999, Rajasthan SWC came up, which had one Muslim among its six heads – Rihana Riyaz Chishti – while no Muslim had been among its 17 members.
In 2004, Meghalaya and Sikkim had SWCs with them having no Muslims among their four and three chiefs, and 27 and nine members, respectively. In 2004 came State Women’s Commissions in Puducherry, Tripura, and Uttar Pradesh. Puducherry had seen four chiefs and 16 members, of whom one had been a Muslim – O Fathima. In Tripura, no Muslim figured among its three chiefs, while of the seven members, only two had been Muslims – Munawara Begum, and Rehana Begum. From that year, Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, had seen four chiefs of whom one had been a Muslim – Zareena Fatima Usmani (2013-18), while only one Muslim figures in 36 members – Khatijatul Kubra.
Since 2005, Uttarakhand had seen three chiefs without a Muslim while one of its 14 members had been a Muslim – Ghazala Jabeen. In 2006, Maharashtra, Mizoram and Nagaland set up their SWCs. No Muslim is among the four chiefs and 29 members in Maharashtra. Also, no Muslim figured among the three chiefs and 21 members in Mizoram. Nagaland has one chief and three members without a Muslim on the list.
Jammu and Kashmir had seen since 1999 three chiefs, of whom two were Muslims – Shameem Firdaus, and Naema Ahmed Mahjour. Six of its 18 members had been from the Muslim community. Goa, since 2010, had seen four chiefs and 12 members without a Muslim nomination. The last state to get the SWC was Telangana in 2021. Its six members include one Muslim – Shaheena Afroze.
To read and obtain more data, please visit:
At the Bottom of the Ladder: State of the Indian Muslims –https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0GF1Q9R25
Next: At the ASI, there are only two Muslims among 35 Superintending Archaeologists
