Jammu: Strongly pitching for women reservation in Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, National Conference provincial president Devender Singh Rana on Sunday said their larger participation in parliamentary democracy and decision making would go a long way in instilling a sense of confidence in them.
According to a statement issued here, Rana while leading National Conference cadre in paying homage to Begum Akbar Jehan on her death anniversary at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan here this morning said “Political empowerment of women will be a befitting tribute to Madr-e-Mehrban Begum Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, who all her life strived for their socio-economic emancipation,”
“Rana said that the vision of Begum Abdullah about empowerment of women and weaker sections hugely influenced and inspired the political philosophy of National Conference, which eventually manifested in 33 percent female reservation in the civic bodies and panchayats, as also 50 per cent share in the medical colleges. He said women constituted almost half of the state politicians and they could not be deprived of their legitimate rights in governance,” it read.
“Madr-e-Meharban stood like a rock against the conspirators of National Conference and infused a new vigour to the movement launched by Sher-e-Kashmir to seek socio-economic empowerment of the people, irrespective of caste, creed, region or religion,” he added.
“Senior leaders including Ajay Kumar Sadhotra and Sheikh Bashir Ahmed also paid rich tributes to Madr-e-Mehrban and recalled her relentless efforts in seeking better life for women and down-trodden segments of the society. Reports of observing the death anniversary were received from all the district headquarters of the Jammu region where tributes were paid to Madr-e-Meharban. Earlier in the morning Fatheh-e-Khawani was also performed at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan,” the statement reads.