Darul Uloom throws its weight behind women’s quota Bill

The Women’s Reservation Bill has got support from an unlikely quarter - the Darul Uloom Madrasa of Deoband.

The Women’s Reservation Bill has got support from an unlikely quarter — the Darul Uloom Madrasa of Deoband. The top brass of the Islamic seminary, which is considered second only to Al-Azhar University of Cairo in higher Islamic teaching, has called for an appropriate representation of women in Parliament calling them an “oppressed section of the society”. Clerics from various departments of the madrasa, however, have also come out in support of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s demand that sub-quotas be provided to Muslims and OBCs within the gender quota in legislatures.

The support to the Bill is yet another instance indicating a change of stance on various issues by the seminary which is otherwise labelled as a hardliner. On earlier occasions, it has condemned terrorism and even the fatwa against Salman Rushdie.

Distancing himself from “political opinion” and commenting on “technical intricacies” of the Bill, Vice-Chancellor of the madrasa Maulana Marghoob-ur-Rehman said, “While reservation is a controversial issue itself, we believe women are an oppressed section of the society and deserve appropriate representation at the highest level (of democracy) from every community and religion.”

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Mufti Obaidullah Qasmi, head of the English department, said, “Islamic education and need for following traditional practices is important but we also want to look at societal aspects of education and involvement in the democratic setup of the country from within the boundaries of our religion.”

The latest stand is also a reflection of the fact that the seminary has accorded priority to educating girls. Emphasising that Muslims of India “are moving towards a society that is more equivalent in terms of both worldly and religious education”, the Vice-Chancellor said, “We have taken initiatives to bring women and men on the same intellectual platform by providing them equal education. Islam emphasises on it.”

With close to 2,500 girls studying in various madrasas in Deoband alone, run mostly by alumni of the Darul Uloom, members of various departments say the concern over girl child’s rights has grown. And as all important Urdu newspapers of the region carried front page articles and views on Women’s Reservation Bill after it was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, the discussion has picked up.