INDIA :
A majority, 13 of the 18 came from political families, and no southern state, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, or Telangana, has ever elected a Muslim woman to the Lok Sabha.
Amid demands for reservation for Muslim and OBC women triggering sharp exchanges in the House, the stark underrepresentation of Muslim women is evident, with only 18 elected to the Lok Sabha since 1947 despite Muslims comprising about 7.1% of the population, and five Lok Sabhas having no Muslim woman MP at all.
A majority, 13 of the 18 came from political families, and no southern state, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, or Telangana, has ever elected a Muslim woman to the Lok Sabha.
The issue is documented in the book “Missing from the House, Muslim Women in the Lok Sabha” by Rasheed Kidwai and Ambar Kumar Ghosh, which profiles these 18 leaders.
“It is a shockingly abysmal figure,” Kidwai notes, pointing out that in five of the 18 Lok Sabhas constituted till 2025, there was not a single Muslim woman member.
In the current Lok Sabha, there is only one Muslim woman MP, Iqra Hasan Choudhury of the Samajwadi Party.
The list of Muslim women MPs includes Mofida Ahmed of the Congress (1957), Zohraben Akbarbhai Chavda of the Congress (1962–67), Maimoona Sultan of the Congress (1957–67), Begum Akbar Jehan Abdullah of the National Conference (1977–79; 1984–89), Rashida Haque of the Congress (1977–79), Mohsina Kidwai of the Congress (1977–89), Abida Ahmed of the Congress (1981–89), Noor Bano of the Congress (1996; 1999–2004), Rubaab Sayda of the Samajwadi Party (2004–09), Mehbooba Mufti of the People’s Democratic Party (2004–09; 2014–19), Tabassum Hasan of the Samajwadi Party, Lok Dal and Bahujan Samaj Party (2009–14), Mausam Noor of the Trinamool Congress (2009–19), Kaisar Jahan of the Bahujan Samaj Party (2009–14), Mamtaz Sanghamita of the Trinamool Congress (2014–19), Sajda Ahmed of the Trinamool Congress (2014–24), Ranee Narah of the Congress (1998–2004; 2009–14), Nusrat Jahan Ruhi of the Trinamool Congress (2019–24), and Iqra Hasan Choudhury of the Samajwadi Party (2024–present).
On Thursday, a confrontation began in Lok Sabha when SP MP Dharmendra Yadav demanded that Muslim and OBC women be included within the reservation framework, saying the party would oppose the Bill otherwise and arguing that delinking delimitation from the Census was unconstitutional.
His remarks drew strong objections from the Treasury Benches, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju asserting that reservation on religious grounds is unconstitutional. Rijiju said quota cannot be granted on the basis of religion and urged members to “talk about women of the whole country.”
SP president Akhilesh Yadav countered by asking whether Muslim women were not part of the “aadhi aabadi” and questioned whether the government was avoiding a caste census.
source: http://www.maktoobmedia.com / Maktoob Media / Home> India / by Maktoob / April 16th, 2026