Will now fight for Uniform Civil Code: Shayara Bano’s parents
Iqbal Ahmed, the father of triple talaq crusader Shayara Bano, has been receiving congratulatory phone calls ever since the Supreme Court struck down the practice on Tuesday morning.
“I am overwhelmed with people’s love,” said Ahmed, a clerk at an Indian Army’s facility for rearing horses, Hempur Depot, tucked away in a corner on Ramnagar Kashipur highway in Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar district.
The area knows Bano and their family for bringing this nondescript village to national fame and recognition.
Ahmed’s wife Firoza says the TV screens flashing the Supreme Court verdict “was the biggest moment of her life”.
“We always stood by our daughter,” she said, unable to control her emotions. “I always knew the verdict will be in favour of hapless Muslim women who have been suffering at the hands of their husbands.”
Ahmed, however, says the Supreme Court verdict is only the first victory. “We will now take the fight for imposition of Uniform Civil Code... there should be a single law governing marriages in the country. We are against polygamy in Islam and would strive for its removal by legal means.”
The battle, the parents say, was tough for Bano who had become very weak after her husband, Rizwan Ahmad, divorced her through a letter in 2015 following several alleged dowry threats.
“But she stood up to the challenges and filed the case and (now) the learned judges have given a path-breaking verdict,” said the beaming parents.
Firoza said they received tremendous support from Hindus but mixed response from Muslims.
Iqbal said there was pressure on them to withdraw the petition but both he and his wife and their daughter were determined to see the case through.