{"id":465,"date":"2018-01-21T14:25:57","date_gmt":"2018-01-21T14:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wakilsahab.in\/news\/?p=465"},"modified":"2018-01-21T14:25:57","modified_gmt":"2018-01-21T14:25:57","slug":"instant-divorce-but-only-for-men-india-considers-banning-triple-talaq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wakilsahab.in\/news\/instant-divorce-but-only-for-men-india-considers-banning-triple-talaq\/","title":{"rendered":"Instant Divorce, But Only For Men: India Considers Banning Triple Talaq"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source – newsdeeply.com<\/strong><\/p>\n

NEW<\/span>\u00a0DELHI<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2013 When Neha Khan got married at the age of 21, she was looking forward to life with her husband. Her wedding in a suburb of Mumbai, India\u2019s financial capital, was attended by more than 3,000 guests. \u201cMy parents left no stone unturned to meet the demands of the groom\u2019s family. They paid a hefty dowry, including a car and expensive furniture,\u201d says\u00a0Khan.<\/p>\n

But soon after the wedding, her mother in-law started mistreating her, accusing Khan of not having brought in enough dowry. \u201cShe made my life hell and even physically assaulted me,\u201d says\u00a0Khan.<\/p>\n

Khan tolerated the abuse for six years. But in March of this year, she finally left her husband\u2019s family home and moved back in with her parents. Khan\u2019s husband promised he would collect her once he had found them a home of their own. But he never\u00a0came.<\/p>\n

When her family tried to find out why, Khan\u2019s now ex-husband told them the marriage was no longer valid. He said he had scribbled the word \u201ctalaq\u201d \u2013 \u201cI divorce you\u201d \u2013 three times on a piece of paper and dropped it on the ground near Khan\u2019s parents\u2019\u00a0house.<\/p>\n

This technique of dissolving a Muslim marriage, available only to men, is known as triple talaq. And according to India\u2019s Muslim Personal Law \u2013 which states that in matters of Muslim social life, including marriage, divorce and inheritance, religious law takes precedence over civil law \u2013 it is\u00a0binding.<\/p>\n

Khan never found that piece of paper. She just suddenly found herself divorced with no warning, no process and no proof. Now 28,\u00a0<\/b>Khan says her life has been\u00a0\u201cdevastated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khan\u2019s experience echoes that of hundreds and thousands of Muslim women in India whose lives are abruptly thrown into chaos when their husbands invoke triple talaq, also known as talaq-e-Biddat or instant talaq. Activists say there has been a steady rise of such cases, and most of the women affected are left to support their children on their own, as they don\u2019t receive any compensation or alimony from their former\u00a0husbands.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, in a rare instance of the courts interfering in Muslim Personal Law, the Supreme Court of India responded to the growing number of women being abandoned through the use of triple talaq by registering a Public Interest Litigation titled \u201cMuslim Women\u2019s Quest for Equality.\u201d The legal action, which is used to advance the rights of minority or disadvantaged groups, aimed to examine whether arbitrary divorce violates women\u2019s rights by treating them like\u00a0property.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court has now heard the arguments challenging triple talaq and has reserved its verdict, which is expected\u00a0soon.<\/p>\n

The issue came back into the public spotlight last year, when 35-year-old Shayara Bano took to the Supreme Court\u00a0to call for a ban on triple talaqafter her husband of 15 years divorced her in 2015. In her petition, Bano challenged the practice as unconstitutional and discriminatory against Muslim\u00a0women.<\/p>\n

The practice of instant talaq is strongly backed by the\u00a0All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB<\/span>), an\u00a0NGO<\/span>\u00a0that has a powerful influence on matters of personal law with relation to India\u2019s Sunni Muslims, who make up more than 90 percent of the country\u2019s Muslims population. As per the board\u2019s decree, which is widely upheld by Islamic clerics, triple talaq is\u00a0irrevocable.<\/p>\n

But the\u00a0AIMPLB<\/span>\u00a0is also aware of the growing public opposition to the practice. During the case in May, the board told the Supreme Court that it would issue a public advisory to advise men against using triple talaq and warn them that resorting to the practice could have social\u00a0repercussions.<\/p>\n

Supreme Court lawyer Chandra Rajan says the Muslim Personal Law is currently too vague to protect women against the damage men can inflict through the use of triple talaq. \u201cThe question is not [simply] about triple talaq, but about equality, security and the dignity of women,\u201d she says. \u201cThe succession of laws for Muslims in India has failed the women of the community, leaving them vulnerable and at the risk of exploitation by men and the\u00a0clerics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rajan points out that various provisions in the law that govern the lives of Muslims in India \u2013 who make up about\u00a014.2<\/span>\u00a0percent of the country\u2019s population\u00a0\u2013 don\u2019t adequately address issues such as marriage, divorce, polygamy or custody of children, leaving them open to multiple interpretations and\u00a0misuse.<\/p>\n

For example, the law specifies that while a Muslim woman is required to go to the court to seek divorce, a Muslim man can terminate the marriage contract instantly, without the presence of his wife or any\u00a0witnesses.<\/p>\n

For Islamic scholar and activist Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, the problem is that the current use of triple talaq in India is not a proper interpretation of Islamic law. \u201cTriple talaq is not mentioned or sanctioned by the Quran,\u201d he says. \u201cThe legitimate form of divorce recognized under Islamic law gives married couples two months to come to some sort of reconciliation [known as Iddat] from the day talaq is pronounced by the husband for the first\u00a0time.\u201d<\/p>\n

After her husband divorced her, Neha Khan turned to the Muslim feminist charity\u00a0Baharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolon (BMMA<\/span>)\u00a0\u2013 whose name translates as Indian Muslim Women\u2019s Movement. The organization has been campaigning for the rights of Muslim women within the framework of Islam and the provisions of India\u2019s constitution for more than a\u00a0decade.<\/p>\n

An independent study by the charity across seven states in India shows 92 percent of Muslim women want an\u00a0end to the system of triple talaq\u00a0and feel that it is\u00a0\u201cun-Islamic.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2013,\u00a0BMMA<\/span>\u00a0set up a Women\u2019s Shariah Court, which provides Muslim women with legal aid and support on various issues, and offers counseling to warring couples and their families by trained women qazis\u00a0(adjudicators).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concept of women qazi and all-women\u2019s courts, which are gradually being accepted by women, is just a first move in our fight for gender equality. Islam doesn\u2019t prohibit women from becoming clerics,\u201d Noorjehan Safia Niaz, one of the\u00a0BMMA<\/span>\u2019s founders, says. \u201cTriple talaq should be abolished and laws must be codified for Muslim women so that they cover all aspects of marriage and\u00a0family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neha Khan says the support she got from the\u00a0BMMA<\/span>\u2019s women\u2019s court gave her the confidence boost she needed to keep fighting for her\u00a0rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can a man destroy someone\u2019s life instantly and marry someone else?\u201d she says. \u201cIs the life of woman merely an object that man can own or\u00a0disown?\u201d<\/p>\n

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