At a symposium on the Role of Parliament in Modern Democratic India’, here on Saturday, they demanded the government to take steps to ensure the representations of all communities particularly weaker sections of society including Muslims in all the elected bodies and other government department.
Former Chief Justice of India A M Ahmadi lamented that Parliament or any other government institutions in the country did not reflect the diversity of the country.
In his presidential remarks, Justice Ahmadi has emphasized that education is the only way to make people empowered. The Muslim community should give due attention towards education, he added.
Espousing the presidential form of government, All India Muslim Majlis-e- Mushawarat president and former MP Syed Shahbuddin also said the parliament lacked representative character.
He and other speakers also come down heavily on the criminalization of politics, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Rajendar Sachar pointed out that earlier criminal–back ground people used to support politicians but now they themselves have been plunging in politics in large numbers that was a matter of concern. Echoing his views, former secretary general of Lok Sabha, Subhash Kayship alleged that walk-outs and pandemonium in the House was done by the opposition with connivance of the ruling party or combination.
Adopting an 8-point resolution, the symposium has opined that Parliament is not working as envisaged by the Constitution. MPs evinced no interest in issues concerned with the common man as laws are passed without required discussion and debate resulting in faulty laws being passed by the Parliament.
It called for making MPs accountable and ensuring that business is transacted in the house. Jurists, academicians and intellectuals felt that the stalling of the house on flimsy issues causes millions of rupees per day for a nation with half of its population being malnourished and semi-clad is a highly serious issue along with other problems of education , health, food ,shelter , security and dignity. They called upon the civil society to come forward for saving the constitution in order to arrest the falling standard of parliament.
Veteran columnist Kuldip Nayar, John Dayal, Prof BS Siddhu, Justice B A Khan, justice Fakhruddin, former VC of Agra University Manzoor Ahmad, economist Dr Abu Saleh Sharief , Kamal Faroqui and others also spoke on the occasion.
The symposium was organized by the Institute of Objective Studies (IOS).The chairman of IOS, Dr Manzoor Alam has announced that his NGO will organize a lecture series on the state of Muslims in Gujarat who are reeling under the ‘tyrannical’ regime of Modi.
