The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Sunday demanded the withdrawal of the triple talaq Bill, saying it went against the Constitution and violated the rights of women.
It accused the Centre of snatching the right of divorce from men. The chairman of the board, Maulana Rabe Hasani Nadwi, will request the Prime Minister to withdraw the Bill.
“The board is of the view that the Bill is against the Constitution, the rights of women and Shariah (the Islamic law). It is also an attempt to interfere with the Muslim personal law. If this Bill becomes a law, women will face a host of difficulties,” spokesperson Maulana Khalil-ur-Rehman Sajjad Nomani said.
“The proposed Bill is against the basic principles of the Constitution. It is highly objectionable that the Centre did not consult the AIMPLB, any Muslim organisation or any stakeholder before preparing the draft,” he said.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, prepared by an inter-ministerial group headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, will be introduced in Parliament next week.
Mr. Nomani said triple talaq, termed “unconstitutional” by the Supreme Court, was thrown into a web of “criminal procedures” by the Centre. “We request the Centre not to present the Bill in Parliament. If the government feels it is very important, it should first talk to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Muslim women organisations,” he said.
“Going by the provisions of the Bill, it seems the government wants to snatch the right of divorce from men. This is a big conspiracy. The draft of the Bill states that triple talaq [talaq-e-biddat] and other forms of talaq will be banned,” he said.
Senior woman member of the board Asma Zehra said: “The Bill is against the interests of Muslim women. If a husband gives triple talaq to his wife and is jailed for three years, how will the woman make her ends meet and look after her children.”
The proposed law will allow the victim to approach a magistrate for “subsistence allowance” for herself and minor children. The woman can also seek the custody of her minor children from the magistrate who will take a final call on the issue.
