MUSLIM WOMEN PROTEST AGAINST BILL ON INSTANT TRIPLE TALAQ
DEMAND ROLLBACK Majority of Muslim women against criminalisation of triple talaq, says president of AIMPLB women’s wing
LUCKNOW: Muslim women turned up in large numbers at Tiley Wali Masjid on Sunday to protest against the bill on triple talaq. A convention was organised under the banner of Tahaffuz-e-Shariat Muhim to register protest against bill on triple talaq. “We do not want any interference in personal laws of the Muslim community. Majority of the Muslim women are against ban on triple talaq and pending bill in Rajya Sabha criminalizing triple talaq,” Asma Zohra, president, Women wing of All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
LUCKNOW: Muslim women in large numbers protested against the Triple Talaq bill at the Tile Wali Masjid here on Sunday. The convention was organised under the banner of ‘Tahaffuz-e-Shariat Muhim’.
Demanding rollback of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights in Marriage) Bill 2017, which is pending in the Rajya Sabha, Asma Zohra, president of the women’s wing of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), said, “We do not want any interference in Muslim personal laws. The majority of Muslim women are against this bill that criminalises triple talaq.”
Stressing that talaq was the only solution for a couple when their marriage was not working out, she said, “What will happen to a woman if her husband is sent to jail? Who will support the children?”
Zohra said that the bill was “passed in haste” in the Lok Sabha and no AIMPLB member was consulted on the issue.
Saba Tabassum, assistant professor, Mumtaz Degree College, also spoke on the occasion. “The rate of divorce among Muslims is very low and talaq is no issue in the community,” she said, adding that the decision taken by AIMPLB on the issue was acceptable to all Muslim women.
A memorandum demanding rollback of the triple talaq bill and addressed to President of India Ram Nath Kovind was also submitted to the district administration as part of the protest.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights in Marriage) Bill 2017 makes instant triple talaq a criminal offence, proposing three years imprisonment for a guilty husband. Last year, the Supreme Court had also termed the practice of instant triple talaq unconstitutional.
The bill sailed through the Lok Sabha, where the NDA government is in majority, but is still pending in the Rajya Sabha.