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Muslim meet advocates proportional representation in legislature

Muslim parliamentarians have proposed proportional representation to give adequate representation to all groups in Parliament and legislatures.

In a resolution adopted at their meet in New Delhi, they said the provision of representation for Muslims should be given in proportion to population on the basis of the joint electorate, as was envisaged in the original provision of the draft Constitution.

The meet, which was attended by about 50 present and former members of Parliament, discussed measures to seek greater representation for Muslims, and emphasised the urgent need for the political system to address the question of under-representation of the second largest community in the country.

They took note of inherent flaws in the existing electoral system, the contradictions in the behaviour of the secular political parties as well as the emergent withdrawal syndrome in the community.

The meet was addressed by senior Congress leader Chandrajit Yadav, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and Muslim leaders from almost all political parties.

It was sponsored by Syed Shahabuddin, former cabinet secretary Zafar Saifullah, Syed Hamid, Justice V M Khalid and Iqbal Ansari.

The meet held that certain factors have operated to limit the number of Muslims entering the legislature, including the pattern of delimitation of constituencies and other factors. The Muslim vote was also neutralised by division of its vote among Muslim candidates belonging to various biradaris and sects

UNI

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