Asma Zehra, member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) Executive Committee, has said Muslims across the country would oppose any effort to revoke the Muslim Personal Law which is an integral part of the Constitution.
Speaking at a media conference here on Saturday, Ms. Zehra accused the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre of attempting to impose a Uniform Civil Code on the Muslim community.
ADVERTISEMENT
The move by a woman, Saira Banu from Uttarakhand, of filing a plea in the Supreme Court challenging the triple ‘talaaq’ under the Muslim Personal Law was part of a ploy to impose uniform civil code on the community, Ms. Zehra said. “The apex court questioned why the PIL was not filed by a Muslim woman who is alleged to have been victimised. It is in this context that they made Saira Banu file the fresh petition,” Ms. Zehra said adding that Muslim women had no complaint against the personal law.
'Unpleasant act'Islamic jurisprudence is a very broad and deep subject, and ‘talaaq’ (divorce) was considered the most “unpleasant act” allowed in the religion, she said.
Though women of all religions had their own marital issues, the media was blowing divorce in the Muslim community out of proportion, and presenting the procedure of triple ‘talaaq’ out of context, she alleged.
In comparison with other religions, divorce and polygamy cases were lower in Islam, she claimed, and said the incidence of second marriage among Muslims was only 3.5 per cent, whereas the same in the Hindu community was 6.8 per cent.
Citing the Muslim Women Act, 1986, the Marriage Act 1939, and the Muslim Women’s Protection of Rights on Divorce Act, 1986, Ms. Zehra said there were enough provisions in law for the protection of Muslim women, and new provisions would amount to judicial legislation.
ADVERTISEMENT