Dr Pramod Pathak
With triple talaq taking a centre stage in judiciary and media, the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is trying to thwart the move at different levels. The board is using different secular platforms to press the demand for no Uniform Civil Code implying to keep the status quo with regard to Muslim women’s status. In Goa an open interaction on the Uniform Civil Code was held under the aegis of Goa Study Group (GSG) in collaboration with International Centre Goa (ICG) with active participation from the local Muslim community. These GSG types of study groups are meant for the extinguished candles from erstwhile ruling party bigwigs to lead the light of secularism and make a platform available to attack current Governments both at the Union and State. These study groups become handy for the bodies like the AIMPLB etc. to hold localised mini-referendums. On February 18, 2017 such mini-referendum was held at ICG. It was presided by erstwhile Congress leader Eduardo Faleiro. The invited speakers were Former Solicitor General Manohar Usgaonkar who hails from Goa and is an authority on the common civil law in Goa, Principal of the local Salgaonkar College of Law, MRK Prasad and lady member of the All India Personal Law Board Ms Fakhira Ateeq.
Talaq Topic Dominates
At the introduction only, Faleiro referred to the Article 44 in the constitution of the uniform civil code as a directive principle. It, however, can’t contradict the fundamental rights of the citizens to practise any religion. He made a pointed reference to the position of Muslim women being forced to suffer in the case of divorce and one-way track in case of triple talaq. He referred to Shah Bano case and the special law enacted to take care of the alimony to be paid to the divorced spouse, always a lady. He referred to the long drawn litigation involved in getting a divorce for the Christian couples under the current common civil law in Goa whereas the Muslim law allowed separation at a faster pace. This introduction set a pace for discussion only on divorce and other aspects remained
unattended.
Principal Prasad made a point in the beginning that although born a Hindu, he no more considers him to be so and that his presentation should not be viewed from any religionist point of view. During his presentation, he pointed to the diverse laws applicable to the different communities and sections of the society. There can be different laws for the social and cultural traditions within the society itself. So it is with many other countries. The USA has different criminal laws for different states. He left it open to the audience to opine whether the uniform civil code should be opted in future.
The AIMPLB representative Ms Fakhira Ateeq defended the position of the AIMPLB stating that the Muslim community is governed by its own Sharia law and that being divine, there is no need to change it. It can’t be altered. She took a dig at the TV programmes where the talaq is vociferously discussed, turning it into hype. She blamed the Union Government for having taken this issue to launch a kind of ‘civil war’ within the country, while keeping aside other important social and economic issues. She asserted that justice should be done to the Muslim ladies who undergo suffering because of the unjust way the talaq procedure is adopted by the erring male spouses and that if so found, the male spouse should be severely
dealt with.
At the end, Usgaonkar dealt extensively with the development of the Portuguese Common Civil Law where at one stage divorce was not acceptable as per the catholic tradition. Over the period it underwent changes and that marriage had to be solemnised in presence of authority and registered. That gave rights to the female spouse to have a say in the matters of alimony and inheritance. He lamented on the delays in separation as the court cases running over the prolonged period. Delays ruin the lives of both the spouses and their kids too. There is scope and need for simplification. As regards the common civil code he emphasised that consensus should be reached between different communities as regards the laws concerning marriage, divorce, inheritance and status of the women in the society. It will help to protect women’s status in all the societies.
Code versus Law
As the floor was open for discussion, I tried to make a point that the Uniform Civil Code implies civilised code of conduct in the society with justice and equality. There should be no difference of opinion that every citizen has right to be treated equally irrespective of caste, gender and economic status. I also gave three examples how the Muslim women were accorded unequal status as per the divine Koranic and hadith dispensations. A Muslim woman is to be given half the share of her brother’s share in inheritance. Witness by a lady is considered half equivalent of a male’s witness. The gender discrimination starts right at the birth. While two goats are to be sacrificed on the birth of a male child, only one goat is to be sacrificed on the birth of a female child. These traditions are not considered under the law but under the code of conduct and are decidedly discriminatory. The Islamic society has to take a stand to rectify these types of traditions. The social code of conduct formulation should be based on sympathy, empathy, equality and justice keeping in tune with the
modern times.
Ms Ateeq defended the AIMPLB position saying that the inheritance code has sixteen variations and that in some case female recipient receives more than the male counterpart. However, she was silent on the witness and sacrifice procedures. Commenting on the ban on triple talaq in Pakistan, she pointed out that triple talaq is still valid there. As regards talaq given on phone or by sending SMS, it is considered valid by no less than the established school of Deobandi following. An objection was raised from the audience saying that there did not exist the mobile phones at the time of the Holy prophet, in that case how should a talaq pronounced on phone be considered valid? To this, the reply was that the talaq laws as enshrined in the Holy Koran were God given and so they can’t and will not be changed. Many in the audience raised their concerns regarding continuation of the mediaeval time laws and norms in the modern times and that Muslim community should give thought to reforms. Prasad told that though at some stage the Supreme Court had ruled ‘Although the courts have no jurisdiction in the religious matters, Hon. Court has taken up the triple talaq matter on the humanitarian grounds. A practising lady advocate narrated instances of discriminatory laws cutting across the religions and emphasised the need for formulating the common laws which will do justice to female folk.
As the discussion intensified on the lines of reconsideration, justice for the women in family matters of divorce etc. a person from audience raised objection that the fellow participants were using unacceptable language to refer to the holy Prophet, those who were speaking were not versed in the divine text of Koran and that the laws enunciated in the Holy Koran were to remain unchanged till the day of judgement-qiayamat. That was the end of it. It became clear that the UCC or the personal laws couldn’t be further discussed in the free atmosphere. The overall consensus was for reformation of the Muslim Personal Law and suitable changes in it. However, this threatening intervention made it fizzle out at the same time the referendum on having “no common civil code” also fizzled out.
(The writer is a freelancer
based in Goa)
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