The National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) on Wednesday accused the Modi government of playing politics over the issue of reforms in Muslim personal laws. The forum also criticised the manner in which the Law Commission is going about preparing its report on uniform civil code (UCC), saying it was playing into the hands of the BJP and the RSS.
“Whenever there is talk of reform in personal laws, the party in power at the Centre and its allied fundamentalist forces focus only on triple talaq and the Muslim community. The BJP, the RSS and Narendra Modi should stop playing politics with Muslim women,” said NFIW General Secretary Annie Raja.
At the same time, there is a need for reform in Muslim personal laws, including banning triple talaq in one sitting, polygamy and `halala’, which lays down the process for a man to remarry a woman he has divorced, she noted. Halala involves the divorced woman requiring to marry another man and getting divorced by him before she could remarry her former husband.
“Whenever personal laws are talked about, UCC is mentioned. UCC is not equal to triple talaq alone. If you are sincere about UCC, you will have to talk about the personal laws of other religions,” she said.
“Our organisation has been in favour of a uniform civil code for a long time. Our position is that there should not be any injustice in the name of religion. There is a need for reform in the personal laws of all religions, be it Islam, Hinduism, Christianity or Sikhism,” Raja said.
NFIW Delhi Chapter President Noor Zaheer said the demand by Muslim women for a ban on triple talaq is an incomplete one as there were other aspects of Islamic personal laws that needed reform. She said a Muslim woman should have equal right to divorce her husband and there should be immediate outlawing of halala. She also demanded a ban on polygamy.
The NFIW criticised the Law Commission for the manner in which it is gathering inputs for its report on UCC, saying its questionnaire does not seem to be based on any scientific research and has reduced the debate to a reality show kind of voting—giving respondents only `yes’ or `no’ options.
Raja also attacked the All India Muslim Personal Law Board for stonewalling any discussion on reforms in Muslim personal laws, saying it has no statutory power and no right to claim itself to be an organisation representing the entire Muslim community.
On the Supreme Court hearing the matter of triple talaq, Raja said the court should take into account the views of organisations working among Muslim women and added that NFIW would bring this to the notice of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur.
