Women's reservation bill most transformative revolution in our times for gender justice: President
New Delhi (PTI): A day after the government introduced a bill to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday said it will be the most "transformative revolution in our times" for gender justice.
Murmu was addressing a gathering after inaugurating the biennial conference of the national human rights institutions (NHRIs) of Asia Pacific held at the Vigyan Bhawan here.
The women's reservation bill was the first bill to be introduced in the new Parliament building on Tuesday.
"We have ensured a minimum of 33 per cent reservation for women in local bodies' election... In a more pleasant coincidence, a proposal to provide a similar reservation for women in state assemblies and national Parliament is taking shape now. It will be the most transformative revolution in our times for gender justice," the President said.
The event is being organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Forum (APF) from September 20-21.
Amina Bouayach, secretary of Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), and Doo-Hwan Song, chairperson, APF, and NHRC chairperson justice (retd) Arun Kumar Mishra were also present on the occasion.
The APF will also hold its 28th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday to discuss the issues of common interest to member countries. In the conference, more than 1,300 delegates from India and abroad are likely to participate, the NHRC earlier said.
The conference is being attended by heads, members and senior officials of the NHRIs of various countries, along with representatives from the Union and state governments, state human rights commissions, special rapporteurs, monitors and various institutions involved in the protection and promotion of human rights in the country.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
