By TCN News
Bebaak collective, a reading, learning and sharing process initiated for Muslim women three years ago, has come out strongly against the recent affidavit presented by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
“The facts of this affidavit is that first, abolition of Triple Talaq is (un)Quaranic; second, since women lack decision making abilities, it is only men of the community who should have this right; third, polygamy is Islamic though not promoted and this practice ensures marital rights for Muslim women, banning of which will tantamount to promiscuous sexual practices or murder of women in hands of their husbands; fourth, the honourable Supreme Court of India has no right to intervene in the religious law of the community,” said a release from the Collective.
Condemning this statement based on all the four premises issued by the organisation, the Collective said, “Whether the practice of unilateral Triple Talaq is validated by religion or not is not our contention, rather it is gender discriminatory and epitomises patriarchal values and therefore must be abolished should be emphasized. Second, the belief that women lack decision-making qualities dilutes the citizenship rights of Muslim women in India who have been exercising their electoral rights for more than sixty years now. Third, polygamy ensures marital rights for Muslim women and prevents death threats; and its erasure will increase promiscuous sexuality is not only conservative but also challenges the principle of ‘equality’ enshrined by our Indian Constitution for women who are being treated as second class citizens as compared to their male counterparts of the community. Fourth, that Supreme Court cannot intervene in the personal law eliminates the possibility of Article 14 which promises equal rights to the citizens within Indian territory across religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth.”
“It is no surprise that All India Muslim Personal Board has not progressed over the decades and reiterates the same position which reverberates the patriarchal conservative ideas of the community,” the statement said.
“We envision a gender-just law for the community where women’s question of social security and rights promised by the Indian Constitution will be practised. We do not believe in progressive or regressive interpretation of religion or codification of Muslim Personal Law for we believe that in every community there are multiple realities of an identity, multiple practices of beliefs and pluralist envisions of family structure. We therefore, emphasize on acknowledgement of women’s rights which are otherwise controlled in the name of religion, purity or chastity or even in the garb of ‘protecting’ women,” the statement added.