New Delhi: Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Shahnawaz Hussain on Monday said the government had approached the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) for consultation on triplr talaq bill but the board didn’t respond.
"When the government approached the AIMPLB initially, they did not want to put forth any representation. Now, all of a sudden, why are they opposing it? If they wanted to be represented, they should have done so before," BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said.
Shahnawaz Hussain was responding to the All India Muslim Persona Law Board (AIMPLB) which on Sunday said the Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill, famously known as Triple Talaq bill was drafted without any consultation with stakeholders.
The Muslim panel also demanded its withdrawal contending that due procedure was not followed while drafting bill.
“No procedure was followed in drafting this bill, neither any stakeholder was consulted. The President of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) will convey this stand to Prime Minister Modi and request him to withhold and withdraw the bill", board's spokesperson Sajjad Nomani said while talking to media after the All India Muslim Personal Law (AIMPLB) meeting held at Nadwatul Ulema in Lucknow.
Shahnawaz Hussain’s statement however is contradictory to what Minster of State for Law P.P. Chaudhary said on the issue in Parliament.
In reply to a written question in Lok Sabha on whether the Government consulted Muslim organisatons before framing the draft law, Chaudhary replied in the negative.
In a separate written reply, Union Law Minster Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “The government is of the view that the issue arises from the humanitarian concept of gender justice, gender equality and dignity of women and not arising from faith and religion.”
He said that since the Supreme Court struck down the practice of instant triple talaq, nearly 66 cases of husbands divorcing their spouses through this method were reported.
The cabinet has already passed the Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill and it has been listed for the ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament.
Under the draft law, triple talaq in any form -- spoken, in writing or by electronic means such as email, SMS and WhatsApp -- would be bad or illegal and void.
The proposed law would only be applicable on instant triple talaq or concurrent talaq and it would give power to the victim to approach a magistrate seeking "subsistence allowance" for herself and minor children.
The woman can also seek the custody of her minor children from the magistrate who will take a final call on the issue.
"The provision of subsistence allowance and custody has been made to ensure that in case the husband asks the wife to leave the house she should have legal protection," the functionary said.
According to the draft law, which would be applicable to the entire country except Jammu and Kashmir, giving instant talaq would attract a jail term of three years and a fine. It would be a non-bailable, cognisable offence.
Some of the other bills listed for Winter Session are Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2017, Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2016, Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill 2017, Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes and Protection of Interest of Depositors Interest Bill 2017.
The Supreme Court of India on August 22, 2017 while terming instant or triple talaq against the principles of Quran and Shariah invalidated the evil practice and asked the government to bring a legislation on it in the parliament.
The Supreme Court referred to the fact that several Islamic countries like Pakistan do not allow triple talaq; judges questioned why it should not be abolished in India.
Differences over practice 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.
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