Muslim women intellectuals slam triple talaq bill

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights of Marriage) Bill will shut the door on reconciliation between a woman and her husband, feel women intellectuals in the Muslim community.

They say the Bill will, in no way, provide protection to women.

“This divorce bill does nothing to empower women. It only disempowers her by letting any Tom, Dick and Harry put her husband in jail, irrespective of whether he actually uttered ‘talaq’ in one-go,” says Irena Akbar, a former journalist who has started# stand up for muslim men campaign on the social media to oppose the bill.

Parveen Talha, a retired civil servant and author of a novel on triple divorce, titled ‘A Word Thrice Uttered’, agrees.

“The Bill will not ensure protection for women. The Supreme Court has already declared triple talaq unacceptable, which means the marriage can’t be dissolved,” she argues.

“When divorce has not taken

I am a Muslim woman and I cannot allow myself to be used as a tool by the state to harass the Muslim man.

IRENA AKBAR, former journalist

place, how can the man be punished?” she asks.

She further points out that once the man serves his jail term, he will look for ways to get rid of his wife by adopting other tactics. “So, if this Bill becomes law, there won’t be any scope left for reconciliation,” she adds.

Slamming the Bill, Akbar says that for far too long, the state and the media have used the contrasting narratives of the ‘pitiful’ Muslim woman and the ‘vile’ Muslim man to malign the community.

“I am a Muslim woman and I cannot allow myself to be used as a tool by the State to harass the Muslim man. Hence, I am against the triple ‘talaq’ bill, which seeks to only populate our jails with Muslim men,” she asserts.