Personal Law Board views are ‘medieval,’ say Muslim women

Denouncing the “derogatory” statements made by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) in their counter affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court regarding triple talaq (practice of divorce), the petitioners, members of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, have asked for a public apology and termed the board as having views, “no longer fit to exist in modern society.”

In its affidavit, the AIMPLB had argued that the Shariyat (Muslim personal law) permits the use of triple talaq to keep the dignity and privacy of both the parties intact and save them from public censure, which stems from delayed justice received in a court of law. News reports quoted the board saying men have greater reasoning power as compared to women and a man giving triple talaq to his wife was a better option than murdering her or burning her alive.

However, the BMMA and Muslims for Secular Democracy (MSD), who were protesting against the alleged remark made by the board said, “Their stand smacks of a medieval mindset and prejudice against women. To presume that this would take care of murder of women and illicit relationships is a fallacy and the facts do not bear this out.”

Members of the BMMA said that on an average, they receive between 15 and 20 cases relating to triple

talaq every month. Khatoon Shaikh, who is the Maharashtra convener of BMMA, said the board does not know the ground reality and is disguised as a non-governmental organisation.

She said there needs to be an arbitration period before divorce is granted and that the process of divorce should not be male-centric. Ms. Shaikh also said the movement will go to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, if need be, and the activists will stage a dharna there until their demand of a total ban on triple talaq is not met.

Co-founder of the BMMA, Noorjehan Safia Niaz, said Muslims across the country have come out in support of the ban and that there is dissent even in the conservative part of the community with many men and religious priests admitting that the practice is biased and prejudiced against women. “The board’s argument that the procedure of divorce is written in the Quran is false, as is their claim of being Quranic; they are cut off and outdated from the reality of current times,” Ms. Niaz said.

A joint statement issued by the BMMA and MSD said legal abolishment should not be limited to triple talaq, but should also extend to “misogynist practices” like underage marriages, muta [temporary] marriages, polygamy and any form of unilateral divorce.

On September 5, the apex court granted the Centre four weeks’ time to file a response on a batch of petitions on the issue.