Condemning the All India Muslim Personal law Board (AIMPlB) for its efforts to deny Quranic rights and their rights as equal Indian citizens, the Muslim women rights outfit Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) on Monday rooted for a “balanced and comprehensive” law against triple talaq, halala and polygamy.
In a statement issued here, BMMA’s Co-Founder Zakia Soman said, “This Government must now listen to the voices of progressive Muslim women.
It has so far not heeded the amendments that BMMA has been demanding to the Bill passed by the lok Aabha. A balanced law which ensures protection of women and at the same time deters the men is required and BMMA has done the needful by presenting this amended version to the Government”.
Slamming the BJP-led NDA Government for hesitation to bring in a “balanced and comprehensive law” to ensure Quranic
and Constitutional rights to Muslim women, Zakia said, “Why is this Government stonewalling the voices of women who have been working since the last decade to ensure Muslim women’s Quranic and Constitutional rightsIJ It is time that the Government and Opposition stopped politicising the issue and ensure a balanced and comprehensive law”.
Two days after the AIMPlB organised a massive Muslim women’s protest in Mumbai against the Muslim Women Protection of Rights in Marriage Bill 2017 to make the instant “Triple Talaq” a criminal offence, Zakia charged that the “male-dominated” Muslim body ( AIMPlB) was indulging in “rampant misinterpretations” supporting triple talaq, halala and polygamy.
“They (orthodox and patriarchal males) are responsible for the biggest disservice to not just Muslim Women but also to Islam. While the rest of the Muslim world has reformed laws and ensured legal rights of women Indian Muslim clerics have kept Quranic rights away from womenm,” she said.