Over 100 women activists working in the rights movement have condemned the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB)’s recent affidavit advocating triple talaq.
A statement issued by Bebaak Collective and endorsed by activists and over 16 organisations working with Muslim women, said it is no surprise that Board has not progressed over the decades and reiterates the conservative position taken by the community.
“We envision a gender-just law for the community where women’s social security and rights promised by the Indian Constitution will be practised. We do not believe in progressive or regressive interpretation of religion or codification of Muslim Personal Law for we believe that in every community, there are multiple realities of an identity, multiple practices of beliefs and pluralist envisions of family structure,” said the statement, from Hasina Khan, Roshni Rina, Geeta Thatra and Shirin Dalvi.
It also emphasised the acknowledgement of women’s rights which are otherwise controlled in the name of religion, purity or chastity or even in the garb of ‘protecting’ women. “This statement is not only an emphatic resistance to the religious organisations like AIMPLB but also a call to reiterate the feminist vision of gender-just laws for Muslim women who are also rightfully Indian citizens,” it said.
Dissecting the AIMPLB affidavit, which stated that banning polygamy may tantamount to promiscuous sexual practices or murder of women at the hands of their husbands, the statement said it is not only conservative but also challenges the principle of ‘equality’ enshrined in the Indian Constitution for women who are being treated as second-class citizens as compared to their male counterparts.
