Uniform civil code: Govt firm, showdown ahead 6 kids die in Bandra bldg collapse

STRONG REACTION Muslim law panel says Modi govt creating ‘internal war’

An influential Muslim body said on Thursday the BJP-led government was creating an “internal war” by trying to review the community’s personal laws on divorce and polygamy, setting the stage for a political showdown ahead of assembly elections in five states early next year.

The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said it will resist the Centre’s attempt to replace diverse customary laws governing marriage, divorce and inheritance with a set of identical civil laws, the so-called uniform civil code.

Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told HT that the government was steadfast on its stand that ‘triple talaq’ — under which a man divorces his wife by saying the Urdu word for divorce three times – must go.

“All communities have different customs and traditions. Our Constitution accepts that. Members of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board address a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday.

It’s a dangerous idea to treat them with a single yardstick. We oppose this,” Maulana Wali Rehmani, a Muslim leader said.

The organisation would “legally” and “democratically” fight any attempt to have a uniform civil code, he said.

The AIMPLB, an advocacy organisation, seeks to protect legal sanctions to a bunch of sharia-compliant customs governing marriage, property and divorce. The same laws also allow polygamy among Muslims.

India has separate sets of personal laws for each religion and demands for overhauling these codes date back decades.

Critics say triple talaq, by allowing summary divorce, discriminates against women.

Six children from the same family died after a fivestorey building collapsed in a narrow, congested Bandra (East) slum in Behrampada, Bandra (East) on Thursday. The youngest victim was a year old.

The ground-plus-four structure came crashing down at 1:40 pm. Five others were injured, including the mother of five of the children. Two of the seriously injured have been admitted to Bhabha hospital.

One of them, Abdul Salam Shaikh, was injured while helping the victims.

The children who lost their life include Aysha Akbar Khan, 13, Alinisar Ahmad Khan, 3, Osama Nisar Khan, 14, Afifa Sadab, 1, Aribi Nisar Khan, 2, and Rusada Nisar Khan, 16.

Three other children from the family and their father Mohammad Nisar and grandfather Abdul Rauf escaped before the building collapsed.

“My six grandchildren were trapped inside the debris. They were living on the first floor. Three other children were in school and are unharmed,” said Abdul Rauf.

The structure housed four families, said locals.

Two families were living inside the structure at the time of incident. Officials said residents had undertaken renovation without permission.

Officials said the entire structure was made of brick and mortar and the collapse occurred because of the weight of the illegal upper floors on the weak basement. Rescue workers look for survivors at the site of the collapse in Behrampada, Bandra (East), on Thursday.

SONU MEHTA/HT