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Delimitation stands for the defining of the boundaries of assembly or parliamentary constituencies in a country or province governed by a legislative set up. The process of delimitation actually redraws the size and scope of the constituencies and also decides the number of seats that have to be reserved for the Scheduled castes. Delimitation process is repeated in regular intervals to ensure that the different constituencies have a similar number of votes. The process of delimitation is entrusted to a commission specially set up for this purpose. The orders of the delimitation commission cannot be questioned by the state legislative assembly, parliament or any court of law. Delimitation in the past Usually delimitation commissions are set up after every census following the enactment of delimitation Act by the parliament under the Article 82 of the constitution. So far, 4 delimitation acts were passed in 1952, 1962, 1972, and 2002. The existing delimitation of constituencies are the result of the delimitation act, 2002 accomplished in the same year based on the data obtained from the 2001 census. Delimitation Act 2002 In the delimitation Act 2002, a special amendment was made to freeze the delimitation of states in the country till the census after 2026. This will mean that the status of the present constituencies will have to be maintained till the first census after 2026. This amendment was made on the following grounds. When delimitation was done according to the population, the states which achieved in population control found their number of seats reduce while the states reporting higher populations were benefited by more constituencies. Therefore only after 2026, changing the number of seats in the parliament can be considered. Delimitation in <keyword id="17605" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jammu-and-kashmir">Jammu and Kashmir</keyword> Following the accession of Kashmir into India, Sheikh Abdulla’s government allotted 30 seats for the Jammu region, 43 seats for the Kashmir region and two seats for the Ladakh region. After this move, the regional disparity continued to exist with Jammu having 37 seats, Kashmir having 46 seats and Ladakh having 4 seats. Between 2005 and 2008, the Gulam Nabi Azad’s government recommended a 25% increase in the number of seats in all the three geographies. Though this process would have increased an additional of 22 constituencies in the assembly, the PDP – Congress alliance could not achieve this since it lacked majority in the assembly. Demands for Delimitation in J&amp;K In 2002, the Farooq Abdullah government amended the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir leading to the freezing of delimitation till 2026. This will mean that the status quo of the constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir will remain the same till 2026 on par with the other states of India. While the need for delimitation is felt increasingly in the region now more than ever in the past, the present moves by the BJP government seeks to fulfill the long-standing demands of the people of Jammu and Kashmir so that they will get an equal representation in the parliament. Legal experts say that the Delimitation Act of 2002 can be struck down by the Governor and the decision will have to get the concurrence of the parliament within a period of six months after passing the ordinance.

Understanding Delimitation in the context of Jammu and Kashmir

Winter Park (US), Apr 16 (AP) Seattle resident Maggie Mohamed was looking forward to spending the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in her native Egypt. Now, with the spread of the new coronavirus, flying is off the table. So is having friends and relatives over for a potluck iftar, the breaking of the fast. Mohamed is older than 65 and says she cannot risk it. "It's very sad. We were very excited," she said. But, "I don't take it as a punishment. I take it as a wake-up (call)." Ramadan unites Muslims the world over in fasting and worship. This year, it follows a string of religious holidays that have also unified the faithful from different religions in grappling with how to observe familiar rituals and celebrations in a time of unfamiliarity. Mohamed is contemplating workarounds. She always looks forward to the special Ramadan prayers, known as "taraweeh," at the mosque. She will now pray at home with her daughter. But what about the dua, or supplication? The imam moves her to tears. As he prays for dead loved ones or those suffering in faraway lands in his "miraculous" voice, sobs rise from the faithful and intermingle with chants of "Amen" recited in unison. Mohamed wonders: Can he make dua over Zoom video conferencing? "That would help us a lot," she said, even as she noted it wouldn't be the same. At the mosque, after the tears comes the laughter. Their faces still wet with tears, female worshippers hug and chat after the prayers as children scurry around and dates and chocolate are passed from hand to hand. "It feels like happiness," Mohamed said. Now, "I cannot hug." Ramadan, which starts later in April, marks when Muslims believe God first revealed the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad. The faithful abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset as they strive for self-purification and empathy. It's a time for prayers, introspection and charity. Normally, it's also a time for family, friends and festive feasting for many. This year, uncertainty looms over the month amid indications the outbreak will cast a pall over many beloved rituals. Many Muslims have been praying for the coronavirus cloud, which has already disrupted Islamic worship the world over, to lift before Ramadan. Mosque closures and modified calls for prayers urging the devout to pray at home have left many feeling emotional. They are relying on worship at home and online religious classes. This year, some are planning virtual interfaith iftars. Texas-based imam Omar Suleiman said empty mosques are reason for reflection. "What would make us worthy again of His sanctuaries?" he said by phone. "How do we build ourselves to where we are more connected to Him?" added Suleiman who has been streaming sermons and nightly reflections to more than 1.4 million Facebook followers. "Now we have a chance to develop empathy with those that have not had access to their religious spaces due to oppressive circumstances." Muhammad Sajid, imam at Al-Farooq Masjid of Atlanta, said normally hundreds flock to the mosque for iftars and prayers. If coronavirus restrictions continue, "people will still fast, they will still pray," but "definitely we will lose the spirit of togetherness." Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore have banned popular Ramadan bazaars where hawkers sell food and drinks in congested open-air markets or roadside stalls. In predominantly Muslim Malaysia, vendors are now planning to bring their businesses online through mobile apps or digital platforms provided by local authorities during the fasting month. Mohamad Fadhil, a trader in Malaysia's southern Johor state, said he was resigned to not being able to do business at the Ramadan bazaar or perform the taraweeh prayers at the mosque. "It feels odd that we can't do all the familiar things we take for granted during Ramadan but in this time of crisis, we just have to be patient and follow orders." In Iran, suffering one of the world's worst outbreaks, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggested that mass gatherings may be barred through the holy month. "In the absence of these meetings, remember to heed your prayers and devotions in your lonesomeness," he said. The Islamic Waqf, which administers the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Islam's third-holiest site, has closed the compound to worshippers. Ramadan prayers, which typically attract hundreds of thousands of people, are now in question, though a final decision hasn't been made. "It's very difficult to see Ramadan in Jerusalem without the mass prayers in Al-Aqsa," said Sheikh Azzam Khateeb, the director general of the Waqf. Still, "the health of the worshippers comes before anything else. We pray to God that this crisis will end." In Egypt, the Ministry of Religious Endowments decided to suspend communal Ramadan activities, including mass charity iftars around mosques. Mosques have already closed for prayers there and the country is under a night-time curfew. Ramadan is normally lively in the country of more than 100 million -- and steeped in tradition. Ordinarily, worshippers fill mosques and shoppers swarm markets. Loved ones gather over scrumptious iftars. Strangers break bread together in street banquets that feed the needy. Cafes teem with patrons chatting over a cacophony of gurgling water pipes and blaring music. And Ramadan lanterns cast a colorful glow over bustling streets. (AP) ZHZH

Muslims grapple with Ramadan rituals in coronavirus era

With the news of demise of J&amp;K Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed goes a dignified man from this world who lived the life of a true Indian Muslim to say the least. Born to a humble family in south Kashmir’s Bijbehara area of Anantnag district on January 12, 1936, he looked at the conflicted region of Kashmir through the prism of Indian ethos. 
 
Several times, he lifted the tricolor in the Valley knowing that it was life-threatening from him to do so. In a political career spanning nearly six decades, the veteran politician who entered the political field in the 1950s emerged as a rival power centre to the mighty Abdullahs, making friends with parties following conflicting ideologies to suit his political agenda. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Jammu-and-Kashmir-CM-Mufti-Mohammad-Sayeed-passes-away-at-79/articleshow/50478820.cms">ALSO READ: Jammu and Kashmir CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passes away at 79</a> 
 
Childhood: Born in Baba Mohalla of Bijbehara, Sayeed had his early education at a local school and graduated from SP College, Srinagar. He went on to obtain a law degree and Master's degree in Arab History from Aligarh Muslim University. 
 
Late 1950s: He cut his political teeth early, having joined the Democratic National Conference of GM Sadiq in the late 1950s. Recognising the potential of the young lawyer, Sadiq appointed him as the District Convenor of the party. 
 
1962: Sayeed was elected to the state assembly from Bijbehara, the seat which he retained five years later. He was appointed a Deputy Minister by Sadiq, who by then had become Chief Minister. However, he fell out with the party a few years later and joined the Indian National Congress, a courageous but risky decision at that time given the unstinted support of most Kashmiris to Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, who was in jail. Considered an astute organiser and administrator, Sayeed ensured that Congress not only got a foothold in the Valley but created pockets of staunch support for the party. 
 
1972: He became a Cabinet Minister and also Congress party's leader in the Legislative Council. He was made the state Congress president a couple of years later. As he rapidly grew in stature, Sayeed saw himself as the next Chief Minister of the state. However, all hopes he might have harboured of occupying the hot seat were dashed when the then Prime Minister <keyword id="6354478" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indira-Gandhi">Indira Gandhi</keyword> entered into an accord with Abdullah and facilitated his return as chief minister after a hiatus of 11 years, much against the wishes of Congress workers in general and Sayeed in particular. 
 
Not the one to give up easily, Sayeed engineered a coup of sorts ahead of the 1977 elections as Congress withdrew support to Abdullah's government. The aim was to have a Congress Chief Minister - which would have been Sayeed - in place for elections to control the official machinery but Governor LK Jha brought the state under Governor's rule. It was the first time that Jammu and Kashmir was brought under Governor's rule. . 
 
1977: Assembly election results killed Sayeed's dream of becoming the Chief Minister as Abdullah's National Conference came to power with a thumping majority. 
 
1986: As Farooq Abdullah warmed up to <keyword id="12596" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajiv-Gandhi">Rajiv Gandhi</keyword> in 1986 to ensure his return as Chief Minister ahead of the 1987 assembly elections, Sayeed was shifted to Delhi and appointed as the Union Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation. <keyword id="222693" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-National">The National</keyword> Conference and Abdullahs have privately held the wily man from south Kashmir responsible for the intra-party rebellion against and subsequent dismissal of Farooq Abdullah by Governor Jagmohan in 1984. The power tussle between Farooq and his brother-in-law GM Shah led to a permanent estrangement and also saw the latter becoming Chief Minister with Congress support. 
Sayeed was a key player when Governor's Rule was imposed for the second time in the state in 1986. Shah's tenure also did not last long as Congress headed by Sayeed withdrew support to his government leading to imposition of Governor's rule for the second time in 1986. 
 
1987: Sayeed meanwhile quit as tourism minister in 1987 and later co-founded Jan Morcha with VP Singh, who had quit Congress over the Bofors scandal. 
 
1989: He won the Lok Sabha election from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh as a <keyword id="123462" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Janata-Dal">Janata Dal</keyword> candidate and became Union Home Minister in VP Singh's cabinet. The high-points in the political journey of Sayeed, who would have turned 80 on January 12, was his being catapulted to the chair of free India's first Muslim Home Minister at a time when militancy broke out in Kashmir and, years later, becoming the Chief Minister of the restive state for a second time in 2015, heading a coalition with BJP, which had its first brush with power in the only Muslim-majority state. 
 
Sayeed's stint in the Home Ministry, at a time when militancy had begun to rear its ugly head in his home state, would, however, be most remembered for the kidnapping of his third daughter Rubaiya by JKLF. The militants demanded freeing five of their comrades in exchange for Rubaiya's freedom and let her off only after their demand had been met. The kidnapping and subsequent release of the militants, according to Sayeed's rivals, projected India as a "soft state" for the first time. He appointed Jagmohan as Governor despite protests by Farooq Abdullah, who resigned and the state came under Governor's rule again in 1990. 
 
1998: Towards the end of PV Narsimha Rao's tenure as Prime Minister, Sayeed returned to Congress fold with daughter Mehbooba Mufti. Sayeed won the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat in 1998 general elections, while Mehbooba became Congress MLA in 1996. 
While the state was brought under <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/A-Fractured-Verdict-Paves-Way-For-Governors-Rule/articleshow/45826306.cms">Governor's Rule in 2002 and 2014</a> due to Sayeed taking time to thrash out coalition dispensations with Congress and BJP respectively, it was his manoeuvrings that saw a democratically elected government give way to administration by the Raj Bhawan in 2008. 
 
1999: With his dream of becoming Chief Minister of the state still unfulfilled, Sayeed parted ways with Congress and floated a regional outfit - Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) - in 1999. Some of the things associated with the PDP are considered exemplary of Sayeed's political genius. 
The green flag and pen-inkpot election symbol of the PDP were lifted straight from the Muslim United Front (MUF) - the Jamaat-e-Islami-led conglomerate of anti-National Conference, anti-Congress parties in 1987 assembly elections. 
 
2002: Though MUF received wide public support in the Valley, it had only four seats to show. Its symbols found ready acceptance in the Valley as PDP made significant gains and won 16 seats in the 2002 assembly elections. Although way short of majority in the 87-member house, Sayeed managed to bargain with Congress and secure a three-year stint as the Chief Minister on rotational basis. Sayeed was sworn in as the ninth chief minister of state on November 2, 2002 - fulfilling a long-standing dream. 
 
2008: The wily politician, who enjoyed good relations across the political spectrum at national level, saw his PDP grow to 21 seats in 2008 Assembly elections but surprisingly decided to sit in the opposition. He withdrew support to coalition government headed by Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad in July 2008 following widespread protests over the Amarnath land allotment row that pitted the people of Hindu-dominated Jammu region against the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley. 
 
2014: The youngest party in the state continued to gain in strength as it not only won all the three Lok Sabha seats in the Valley in 2014 general elections but also emerged as the single largest party in the state elections later in the year. Sayeed became the unanimous choice for Chief Minister when PDP and BJP reached an agreement to form a coalition government and took oath on March 1, 2015. 
 
(image credits: JKPDP website)

How this two-time J&K CM rose from being a
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Understanding Delimitation in the context of Jammu and Kashmir

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How this two-time J&K CM rose from being a lawyer to becoming a political powerhouse #RIPMohammadMuftiSayeed

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