Zakia Soman
We, the Indian Muslim women have been demanding a codified Muslim family law for many years now. This law is necessary to fight injustice in marriage and family matters. Muslim women are entitled to legal protection in matters of personal law as much as all Indian women. The Parliament passed the Hindu Code through the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Hindu Succession Act, 1956 as well as several amendments to the Christian Marriage Act. This has enabled our Hindu sisters and Christian sisters to gain legal protection in personal law matters. Though we remain a male-dominated society, at least our sisters enjoy protection of law. The Muslim women have been denied this benefit, thanks to the opposition of the orthodox patriarchal bodies such as the Personal Law Board who do not allow any discussion of reform. They are also opposed to a codified Muslim family law. This situation has persisted even 70 years after we became independent.
In this context it was an historic day for Indian democracy when the Lok Sabha passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017. The Muslim Women’s movement against triple talaq in the last few years has made this change possible. But later on, the bill appears to have met barriers in the Rajya Sabha. The Congress and other opposition parties have demanded that the Bill be referred to a select committee. According to media reports, the government is of the
view that constructive suggestions from
the Opposition parties will be taken into
consideration.
We have made a few suggestions towards strengthening the Bill and to bring about a robust law against triple talaq. Firstly, the proposed law should lay down a detailed procedure of divorce based on the talaq-e-ahsan method involving reconciliation, mediation between the couple lasting for a period of minimum 90 days. This would be somewhat similar to the mandatory six month cooling off period in the divorce of a couple married under Hindu marriage law. The responsibility of this process should be on the husband and he should carry it out with full involvement of the wife. At the end of this mandatory process of arbitration and dialogue the divorce can happen if the matters can’t be resolved. The Quran emphasizes on a just and fair divorce meaning the wife should get shelter, maintenance support, custody of children etc. The law should provide greater clarity on the support allowance mechanism. Secondly, violation of law should invite punishment as any law is meaningless without deterrence. The offence of talaq-e-bidat should be a non-cognizable and bailable offence. The final choice of registering an FIR followed by a legal case should rest with the wife. Marriage is a matter of civil law and should be viewed as such while furthering gender justice. The proposed law on triple talaq must draw from the bigamy law, the anti-dowry law and the domestic violence prevention law where the offence is punishable. Our prayer in the Supreme Court called for an end to triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy. A comprehensive law still remains a need.
The ordinary women who fought against triple talaq have been supported not just by other Muslim women but by all the women of India. The struggle of ordinary Muslim women for gender justice was based on the faith that “My Allah has made me equal” and therefore the diktats of the Personal Law Board are not acceptable. It is significant that ordinary Muslim women have clearly demonstrated faith in democracy and democratic
institutions such as the courts through their struggle for gender justice. The Congress and other opposition parties must engage with the government to bring about a law that would address the
democratic demands of ordinary Muslim women.
(The writer is co-founder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan)
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