New Delhi: Stating that she was tense and pressurised to make the controversial statement, the Uttarakhand Muslim woman whose video went viral about ten days ago, in a new video apologized and said she was ashamed of what she said.
“I regret the remarks I made against my community. I am a Muslim, and I am ashamed of what I said", she said in the new video which surfaced on Friday.
"I uttered those words because I became tense and angry after my brother-in-law divorced my sister and married another woman,” she said.
“I was pressurised to make those comments,” she added in reply to a question.
In the earlier video posted on YouTube, the woman can be heard praising Prime Minister Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for their efforts to abolish Triple Talaq.
In a fit of rage, as she claimed in the new video, she said, "It is better to adopt Hinduism and marry a Hindu man who would at least not destroy my life by uttering just three words."
The Uttarakhand woman's videos relating to triple talaq came in the midst of a debate in India over validity of the practice and petitions demanding a ban are filed in the Supreme Court. The Apex Court had fixed May 11 as the date to start hearing on the pending petitions.
Differences over validity of Triple Talaq exist in the Islamic Sharia since the tenure of second Caliph Omar (RA). Muslim scholars and jurists argue that concurrent talaq or triple talaq in one go has never been approved by Prphet Mohammad (peace be upon him), during the tenure of first Caliph Abu Bakr (RA) and the first two years of Caliph Omar's caliphate.
Caliph Omar later approved it as punishment, scholars argue, but later on the practice was annulled by Muslim jurists. It is on this basis, the practice of concurrent talaq has been termed invalid in most of the Muslim countries.
Muslims in India, majority of them followers of Hanafi school of thought, are adamant on the invalid concurrent talaq and are fighting a case with women activists in the Supreme Court.
Interestingly, some renowned Hanafi scholars have also ruled against concurrent or triple talaq. According to the sources in the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), the members fear that agreeing to any change on triple talaq would open floodgate of interference in other Sharia matters.
It is also learnt that there is a strong dissent among the members of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMLB) and especially some women members are upset over board's handling of the situation.