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A charade: Shabana

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI MAY 6. "It is just a charade. If the BJP, the Congress and the Left want it then the passage of the Bill should have been ensured. But just by sheer lung power it was deferred. Where is democracy? The truth is that the men don't want such a huge change in structure. It means that 180 men will lose their seats in Parliament and they will fight tooth and nail to save them,'' said the Rajya Sabha member, Shabana Azmi.

"The representation of women in the first Parliament was four per cent. Almost 55 years later it is just eight per cent, not because they are not able but because they've been kept out,'' she added. Echoing similar sentiments, the senior Samata Party leader, Jaya Jaitly said: "Men will not give up their seats in Parliament easily. They keep making up silly excuses. In case they can't come to a consensus in Parliament, they should come to a consensus outside.''

Calling the move to defer the Bill "unparliamentary'', the president of Women's Political Watch, Veena Nayyar, said: "The Speaker should have been able to exercise his judgment and got the Bill passed. He didn't need to ask for an adjournment. Bills have been passed in the past and I hope that he would use his discretion on Friday. Enough is enough, we need our space, we must be able to participate in the political process. This is imperialism of a different kind.''

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