Now, AIMPLB to bring in model ‘nikahnamah’
LUCKNOW: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) intends to give final touches to the model ‘nikahnama’ (marriage contract), which it has been mulling for over two-decades, to curb instant triple ‘talaq’ struck down by the Supreme Court.
At its plenary session in Hyderabad on February 9, the board plans to introduce a provision in the form of an undertaking by the groom that he will not resort to instant triple divorce. “We will be finalising the draft of this model ‘nikahnama’ during the meeting,” confirmed board’s spokesperson Maulana Khalilur Rehman Sajjad Nomani.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitching for early passage of the bill in the ongoing budget session of Parliament. The bill criminalises instant triple divorce. The AIMPLB has pinned its hope on getting support from some BJP allies to stall it in the Rajya Sabha. The Hyderabad meeting will also discuss strategy to drum up support for the demand raised by the Congress that the bill should be referred to a select committee of Parliament. The Lok Sabha has already passed the bill.
In its campaign to get the TT Bill stalled, a delegation of the Board has already met and sought support of opposition parties like AIADMK, DMK, Telugu Desam, TMC and BSP. The AIMPLB, which is the apex body of Muslims on religious issues, also plans to knock on the doors of BJP allies Shiv Sena and Akali Dal soon to seek their support, according to AIMPLB secretary Zafaryab Jilani.
From roping in ‘madarsa’ students to getting the clerics to deliver a talk during Friday sermon, the AIMPLB intends to utilise the services of its women’s wing and several other affiliates to create awareness about the evils of dowry and instant triple divorce. “It is not that we have woken up on the issue now. In fact, we have been working on the model ‘nikahnama’ for the past 25 years,” said another board member Kamal Farooqui. Board president Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadwi had written a letter to PM Narendra Modi, urging him not to table the bill in the Lok Sabha. But the Central government went ahead with the move. “We had obtained the signatures of 3.5 crore people supporting our stand on the issue but I am not surprised that our appeal (to the PM) went unheeded,” says Farooqui.
The Central government had brought the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill which was passed by the Lok Sabha on December 28. The bill declares instant triple a criminal offence with a provision of up to three years in jail for the husband. Political parties indulged in a slugfest both inside and outside Parliament when the bill was tabled last month in the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP-led NDA does not enjoy majority. While the government wanted a debate on the bill in the Rajya Sabha, the opposition demanded that it be sent to a select committee for scrutiny before it is a made a law.