New Delhi: The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) has called for a ban on the 'triple talaq' saying it was un-Islamic and outlawed in several Muslim countries.
"The Quran gives rights to Muslim women during marriage and does not recognise triple talaq," the group said in a resolution passed at its ninth annual convention here.
"Yet, this evil practice prevails in India. It should be banned like several Muslim countries (have done)," it added.
60% talaq unilateral
A report published in Times on India stated that 6 out of 10 Muslim women, according to a survey, were given divorce unilaterally and that they are informed about it by her relatives, the local Qazi or through sms or e-mail.
The survey also revealed that in 54 per cent cases, the husband remarried almost immediately and almost 80 per cent women were deprived of maintenance.
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Nearly, 16 per cent of women did not know about the mehr (fixed money promised by the groom to the bride at the time of marriage) and 56 per cent are deprived of this token amount at the time of divorce.
BMMA rejects idea of Uniform Civil Code
Furthermore, the BMMA, while rejecting the idea of an Uniform Civil Code, called upon the government to initiate urgent measures towards reforms in Muslim personal law.
A BMMA statement quoted co-founder Noorjehan Safia Niaz as saying how India urgently needed a codified Muslim personal law based on the Quranic principles of justice and equality.
Zakia Soman, another co-founder, spoke about how an Uniform Civil Code was not the answer to Muslim womens' quest for justice.
This can happen only by reform in Muslim personal law where matters such as age of marriage, divorce and polygamy can be regulated, she said.
"The panel agreed that the patriarchal elements in the community had blocked any reform move for too long and this must change."
The convention was attended by some 500 Muslim women and men from different states.
On the occasion, a report titled "No More Talaq, Talaq, Talaq: Muslim Women Call for a Ban on an UnIslamic Practice" was released.
Authored by Niaz and Soman, it carries case studies of 117 Muslim women who have been victims of "triple talaq".
The case studies were gathered from Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Karnataka.
In his foreword to the report, National Minorities Commission's former chief Tahir Mahmood said the report read like a horror story "and reveals what havoc a gross misuse of the noble Islamic law on divorce as a whole is playing in the society".
