The Manithaneya Makkal Katchi party plans a conference in Madurai, demanding the repeal of the Waqf (Amendment) Act besides seeking adequate representation of Muslims in electoral politics
NEW DELHI – The Tamil Nadu-based Manithaneya Makkal Katchi will organise a rally and conference in Madurai on July 6, seeking to provide adequate representation in electoral politics for the minorities, especially Muslims, and to repeal the Waqf (Amendment) Act, the party’s president, MH Jawahirullah, has said.
Jawahirullah, who represents the Papanasam seat in the state assembly, highlighted the abysmal representation of Muslims in parliament and state assemblies.
Speaking to Clarion India here on Thursday, Jawahirullah claimed that as of June 2025, only 39 of the 776 seats in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were held by Muslims – 24 in the lower house and 15 in the upper house. This represents 4.42% and 6.4% of the legislatures, respectively. He also claimed that Muslims lacked adequate political representation from top to bottom.
He also underlined that the same is the case with state legislatures across the country, where Muslims did not get their share in the decision-making process. There were a total of 4,123 MLAs across India, with only 296 Muslims. This was 7.18 %. Even in states that had a sizable population of Muslims, there was no adequate representation, he said.
About his home state, he said there were a total of 234 seats in the state legislature. However, there were only 7 Muslim MLAs. Even in local bodies, the number of Muslim representatives had reduced, he said. There were only four Muslim ward councillors in Greater Chennai Corporation, he said, adding the situation was similar in Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Madurai and Tirunelveli Corporations.
Jawahirullah also pushed for the repeal of the Waqf Amendment Act. “The Waqf Board is empowered to determine whether a property is Waqf property under Section 40 of the Waqf Act. But this right was taken away by the Act’s revision,” he said.
In response to questions on the alliance with the DMK, Jawahirullah said the alliance opposes the ideology of the BJP. His party, he said, is part of a political alliance that opposed fascism. In response to a question about Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s criticism of the DMK government for failing to keep its election pledges, Jawahirullah stated that the Union Minister had no authority to claim this. He said the government was carrying out several social programmes for the public’s benefit.
Recently, MMK held its executive committee meeting at Madurai to prepare for the forthcoming conference.
