DOCUMENTING EXCLUSION, CHRONICLING COURAGE

Rashid Kidwai and Ambar Ghosh trace the journeys of 18 Muslim women MPs, exposing systemic exclusion and chronic underrepresentation in Indian parliamentary democracy

- RAJESH OP SINGH

In the foreword to Rashid Kidwai and Ambar Kumar Ghosh’s recently published book, “Missing from the House: Muslim Women in the Lok Sabha," Shashi Tharoor writes that the book represents the first systematic attempt to chronicle the “missing” presence of Muslim women in Indian parliamentary politics.

It documents the journeys of those few Muslim women who have succeeded in crossing the formidable threshold of the Indian Parliament.

Published by Juggernaut, this book narrates the plight of nearly 70 million Muslim women who have been largely excluded from the world’s largest democracy. It underscores how Muslim women continue to be positioned as outsiders in Indian politics, how their lives and journeys are affected by patriarchy, religious conservatism, and systemic exclusion.

Kidwai and Ambar place the struggle-filled trajectories of the 18 Muslim women MPs who have reached the Lok Sabha since 1952 and have played a vital role in building democracy. They have broken through countless barriers and formidable challenges to reach the Lok Sabha. Furthermore, this book also examines the intersection of gender and religious identity, highlighting the broader trend underlying the political marginalisation of Muslim women in the lower house of the Indian Parliament, and critically examines the reluctance and failure of political parties to distribute tickets to uplift Muslim women at the grassroots level.