Mohd. Naushad khan wonders whether the mammoth protest rallies staged by Muslim women under the aegis of Muslim Personal Law Board in the various cities of India compel the Government to withdraw the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017, dubbed Triple Talaq Bill.
Triple Talaq has remained a hot topic for one reason or another. But the rhetoric behind the debate has mostly been over the culmination of prejudiced mind exploited as a political tool in the name of gender justice, equality and most recently women’s freedom. Women assert that the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017, instead of providing solace, would further complicate their problems because it is not guided by logic and reasoning which even a layman can apprehend.
Earlier, the debate revolved around the use and misuse of triple talaq and an awareness campaign was launched to educate people on numerous occasions. No one really understands the drum beating behind this issue when we all are aware that its misuse has been the least within the Muslim community and it has been put forward during debates a number of times. The issue intensified when the Bill was adopted in the Lok Sabha, criminalising instant talaq with no logical conclusion. The Bill has been widely opposed not only by the community but also by many who believe it was uncalled for because there are many laws to deal with its misuse, if any.
According to the Bill, “Any pronouncement of talaq by a person upon his wife, by words, either spoken or written or in electronic form or in any other manner whatsoever, shall be void and illegal. Whoever pronounces talaq referred to in Section 3 upon his wife shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and fine.”
The Bill further says, “Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions contained in any other law for the time being in force, a married Muslim woman upon whom talaq is pronounced, shall be entitled to receive from her husband such amount of subsistence allowance for her and dependent children as may be determined by the Magistrate. Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, a Married Muslim woman shall be entitled to custody of her minor children in the event of pronouncement of talaq by her husband, in such manner as may be determined by the Magistrate. Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, an offence punishable under this Act shall be cognisable and non-bailable within the meaning of the said Code.”
The argument put forward by most of the legal luminaries and experts is when the Apex Court made the pronouncement that set aside ‘talaq-e-biddat’ – instant and irrevocable ‘talaq’ – a “manifestly arbitrary” practice, there was no point to make it a criminal offence. Various Muslim organisations, including All India Muslim Personal Law Board jointly as well as from their own respective platforms protested against the bill and termed it as against Islamic Shari’ah and anti-Constitutional. The bill has been introduced to grant freedom to women but the given provision in the bill is believed to be against women and women themselves have opposed it and termed it against Shari’ah as well as against the interests of women.
A massive signature campaign was launched by All India Muslim Personal Law Board and also by its women’s wing to prove the point that people are opposed to it and do not want any kind of interference in their Shari’ah laws. In order to puncture BJP’s claim that Muslim women are jubilant over what the government has done in the name of freedom, lakhs of Muslim women under the banner of All India Muslim Personal Law Board staged silent protest marches in scores of cities and towns across India and the turnout of Muslim women in some places has been historic if we go by the media reports.
All Muslim women have opposed it and have refused to accept it which in itself speaks volumes about the narrative presented for the Bill. Most of them are of the view that instead of giving freedom it would further complicate their problems. Women in thousands and lakhs turned out to register their protest against the bill at places like Lucknow, Kanpur, Moradabad, Sambhal, Deoband, Jaipur, Sikar, Pune, Asansol, Kolkata, 24 Parganas, Hyderabad, Patna, Munger, Khagaria, Bhagalpur, Supaul, Araria, Kishanganj, Purnia, Jahanabad, Nawada, Jamui, Burdawan, Bhopal, Ujjain, Indore, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Dhulia, Malegaon, Moradabad, Gulbarga, Cuttack and Bhatkal. And the list goes on.
Nusrat Ali, Vice President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and Executive Committee member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, while speaking to Radiance, said, during the last meeting of All India Muslim Personal Law Board in Hyderabad the Triple Talaq Bill was rejected and it was said categorically that it is against Shari’ah and anti-Constitution and also against women. It was decided then that women’s wing of the Board would also hit the streets to make people aware of Shari’ah and its use. And also to raise their voice as to what they think about this bill. The mammoth gatherings at all places where they demonstrated silent protests speak volumes about their point of view and how strongly they have rejected it. The women themselves are saying that the bill is against women and instead of helping them it would further complicate their problems.
On the question of its coverage in the media, he said that although it has been covered by many but certainly not in the proportion that these huge and historical rallies deserved. On the use of social media, the Jamaat leader said the older people in the community are not so savvy about social media and the younger generations are not that aware of the Shari’ah. No doubt social media should be used effectively because this is the only medium by which the community can reach out to the larger sections on their own if they are ignored by the mainstream media.
Another Executive Committee member of the Board, Dr Asma Zehra told Radiance, “The demand to send the bill to the select committee has been made from a long time by the opposition which includes Congress and many other parties. The present talaq bill is against the present provision given in our law in the IPC and contradicts the safeguard given to us by the Constitution. The impression was created that Muslim women themselves want such a provision and the galleries of Parliament were filled with burqa-clad women was a total propaganda.
“To reject and end that impression and to raise our voice in the media we considered it to be our Deeni obligation. All our sisters participated and initiated these protests as an ibaadat for the sake of Allah and to preserve and protect our Deen and Shari’ah. While using the rights given under our democracy we have protested to get our rights enshrined in our Constitution and to thwart all attempts that are aimed at depriving us of our Constitutional rights. We are hopeful that the Government will either withdraw the bill or send it to the select committee where the views of our Ulema would also be considered.”
The concluding meet is to be held in the national capital on 4 April and the turnout is expected to be massive and as per expectation, more than one lakh women are likely to attend. The consultative meet for this was held at JIH headquarters on 20 March under the guidance of Maulana Muhammad Fazlur Rahim Mujaddidi, national secretary All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari, Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Hind who is also vice president of the Board in the presence of many representatives of the area representing various social and religious organisations and Okhla MLA Amanatullah and former MLA of Matia Mahal Shoaib Iqbal.