70% of callers on Muslim women’s helpline are men

GUIDANCE Tollfree helpline was set up to clarify, guide and help women on Sharia law

KOLKATA :When the government set up an all-India helpline for Muslim women, it surely would not have imagined an overwhelming number of the callers would be men.

The toll-free helpline was set up by All India Muslim Personal Law Board last year to clarify, guide and help distressed Muslim women on various aspects of the Sharia law, especially on the issue of triple talaq, where men can divorce by simply uttering the word thrice.

But most callers are men seeking clarification on divorce and property rights for women, counsellors have said. Experienced regional counsellors counsel and guide callers in Urdu, English and eight regional languages.

“Out of every 10 calls I receive, 7 or 8 are from Muslim men. Two or three are from women. The frequently asked questions range from the proper process of talaq, property rights of women and others,” said Uzma Alam, joint secretary of All Bengal Muslim Women’s Association. “Since it is a helpline for women, we generally pass on our email id and ask them to mail their queries.”

Syed Tanveer Nasreen, the head of the department of women’s studies at Burdwan University, said if the majority of the calls are from men it points to the fact that women do not have the freedom to take decisions.

“If 70 % of the calls are from men, it shows that a large section of Muslim women can’t even dare to make a telephone call and speak for themselves. Either they are queries from men and sometimes their brothers or father call up and do the talking,” Nasreen said. Apart from different parts of West Bengal, calls from Bengalis peaking Muslims have also been pouring in from Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad and other states as well. Alam is the only Bengalis peaking counselor.

Hindi and Urdu speaking Muslims from UP, Karnataka, Delhi and other states have also been calling to seek guidance, Alam said. Counsellors located in other parts of the country, who handle calls in Urdu and Hindi, too said a majority of the callers are male.

“Sometimes there are a dozen calls in a day, sometimes fewer. But 70% plus calls come from men. Some want to know the procedure of second marriage, some want to talk about their sons and daughters,” Yasmeen Farooqi told Hindustan Times from Jaipur.