Tag Archive for: Religion

“Uniform Civil Code: Drawing the line between religion and law” in TOI Blog

Uniform Civil Code

Amendments have been made in all personal laws, except for Muslim Personal Law which until recently witnessed the Supreme Court’s historic verdict against instantaneous Triple Talaq (Talaq e biddat). As expected, some Muslim religious groups have come together to oppose the Supreme Court’s judgment stating that it interferes with their religion. Massive hullabaloo’s have been ensuing for decades due to religious and judicial discrimination, where do we draw the line?

The infamous Shah Bano case of 1985 was presented in front of a five judge bench, they unanimously decided to overturn the appeal and keep with the High Court’s decision to provide maintenance to 70 year old estranged wife Shah Bano. This decision caused uproar amongst orthodox Muslims who said “This is an attack on our personal law, this is an attack on our religion.” The fear wasn’t limited to one court case, but the subsequent fear of diminishing practices and rituals which they have been practicing in the name of Islam. The fear was overturned with a law which allowed maintenance to be paid only for the period of ‘iddat’. Wasn’t this religious appeasement taking precedence above human rights, above gender equality? It turned out to be a victory of religious groups, and failure of law.

The main conflict that personal laws face is the prejudice and upkeep of patriarchal norms which are in many cases unrelated to the religion that they have risen from. With the exception of Muslim Personal Law, all other personal laws are inching towards an egalitarian approach of treating women with the dignity and respect she deserves. There has come an understanding that maintenance is required by a dependent spouse, a majority of these cases are of women who are dependent on their husband. An understanding has also arisen in the form of changing divorce laws, domestic violence laws, and moreover property succession laws. From what can be seen now none of the religions of India whether it is Hinduism, Christianity, and Parsi’s are facing a threat to their existence. Each religious group celebrates special occasions with full zeal and in respect to their customs and practices, now it’s just done without gender inequality.

In the Supreme Court Talaq e biddat was termed by the opposing counsel as ‘sinful but legal’. Isn’t the word ‘sin’ enough in terms of religion to keep one away from an act that is reprehensible by God?

The question not only arises regarding the process of Talaq e biddat, but when a husband realizes that in a fit of anger he has made a mistake and the toil his now estranged wife has to go through. The aftermath is the horrifying and well known as ‘Niqaah halala’. These funny rules do not empower women, nor does it do justice to a relationship which with each hurdle diminishes the chance to be salvaged.

Whenever a religious group will come forward to take a stand against the Supreme Court’s decision I would like to remind them of the following reasons as to why talaq e biddat is unconstitutional, and an insult to women everywhere. Talaq e biddat doesn’t respect women, it is derogatory, it doesn’t allow a husband and wife to exit the union as they had entered it which is through an equal opportunity to make a sound decision, and it especially isn’t endorsed in religious documents with the vehemence with which its being fought for.

We are living in a progressive world, globally there are so many countries that does not accept Talaq e biddat as a legal method of having a divorce, India being a so called progressive nation is the one country which is lagging behind! Up till now this was done due to appeasement for votes, I hope and believe that the appeasement done henceforth will be based on moral integrity and will create gender justice.