AIMPLB welcomes judgment that safeguards Muslim personal laws

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), the apex body of Muslim clerics that opposes the ban on triple talaq, welcomed Tuesday’s Supreme Court judgment saying it “accords” protection to Muslim personal laws.

The top court struck down the controversial Islamic instant divorce law as arbitrary and unconstitutional on Tuesday.

“We welcome the judgment since it accords the protection to Muslim personal law and says that personal laws cannot be tested on the grounds of violation of fundamental rights. The majority (comprising Chief Justice JS Kehar and justice Abdul Nazeer with Justice Kurian Joseph agreeing) has accorded personal laws the status of fundamental rights being protected under the right to practice religion contained in Article 25,” the board said in a statement.

“This is a huge victory for us as the judgment vindicates our stand and ensures that fundamental rights of citizens to freely practice and profess their religious beliefs,” it said.

The AIMPLB said it had already submitted that the practice of triple talaq, though having basis in religious texts, is not the best way of pronouncing talaq.

AIMPLB had on May 22 informed the court about issuing instructions to clerics (who solemnise the marriage) to include the provision of excluding the triple talaq in one sitting (tala-ebiddat) in the nikahnama (contract) at the time of wedding. It had also launched a signature campaign seeking non-interference in Muslim personal law.

The board said it will meet in Bhopal on September 10 to discuss the Supreme Court verdict and chalk out its strategy.

SHARIQ RAIS SIDDIQUI/HT Junior High School, Gotutti, in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich, offers its students a horse ride as a reward for attending classes. Headmaster Mohd Jafar Khan says the initiative has brought those who had dropped out, or are irregular, back to the classrooms and is a success not least because the idea is the brainchild of the school’s two Class 7 boys, brothers Mohd Ahmad and Mohd Zaid, whom Khan now plans to get rewarded by the basic education department.