Muslim body writes to PM Narendra Modi, calls triple talaq bill against Sharia

NEW DELHI: The All-India Muslim Women's Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB), that has been opposing the central government's decision to table a bill on triple talaq in Lok Sabha, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to withdraw the bill. 

The board's president Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadwi wrote in a four-page letter to the Prime Minister that the bill was against Saria or Islamic law and infringes constitutional rights guaranteed to religious minorities.

"Should the Centre go ahead with the bill, the AIMPLB would oppose the move and make people aware that neither it nor other true representatives of Muslim women were consulted before preparing the legislation," the letter said.

Reacting to the letter, the All-India Muslim Women’s Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) described the AIMPLB as anti-women for opposing the bill and trying to create a divider to block the proposed law in Parliament.

"Triple talaq is a draconian way to destroy the lives of women and it should be banned as it is un-Islamic. We support the government for bringing the bill as it protects the right of Muslim women who are treated as slaves by men," AIMWPLB president Shaista Amber said.

The move against triple talaq follows numerous complaints by Muslim women, who were divorced through the customary practice and denied alimony and other rights.

Talaq-e-biddat involves Muslim men divorcing their wives by mentioning the word 'talaq', meaning divorce, three times in quick succession, sometimes over email, WhatsApp messages or letters.

In August, the top court struck down the custom as arbitrary and unconstitutional in a verdict that was hailed as a watershed moment for gender justice in India.

The triple talaq debate forged an unlikely coalition between women groups, Prime Minister Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party which wanted the customary law quashed, against some Muslim outfits that contended the state had no right to interfere in religious matters.

Talaq-e-biddat is banned in 22 Muslim-majority countries, including Pakistan and ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia. Muslim men in India can still divorce using two other forms of talaq that have a three-month cooling off period.

The proposed law would be applicable only to instant triple talaq and it would empower Muslim women to approach a magistrate seeking “subsistence allowance” for herself and her minor children.

The woman can also seek the custody of her minor children from the magistrate.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will introduce the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights and Marriage) Bill in the Lok Sabha today. 

The bill proposes to make the triple talaq practice a punishable offence and describes it against constitutional morality and gender equity.

Anyone who pronounces instant divorce "shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and a fine", the bill proposes.