Ban 'triple talaq', says Muslim women's group

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) on Friday called for a ban on the "triple talaq" divorce system, saying it was un-Islamic and outlawed in several Muslim countries.

"The Quran gives rights to Muslim women during marriage and does not recognise triple talaq," the group said in a resolution passed at its ninth annual convention here. "Yet, this evil practice prevails in India. It should be banned like several Muslim countries (have done)," it added. At the same time, the gathering rejected the idea of an Uniform Civil Code and called upon the government to initiate urgent measures towards reforms in Muslim personal law.

A BMMA statement quoted co-founder Noorjehan Safia Niaz as saying how India urgently needed a codified Muslim personal law based on the Quranic principles of justice and equality. Zakia Soman, another co-founder, spoke about how an Uniform Civil Code was not the answer to Muslim womens' quest for justice.

This can happen only by reform in Muslim personal law where matters such as age of marriage, divorce and polygamy can be regulated, she said. "The panel agreed that the patriarchal elements in the community had blocked any reform move for too long and this must change."

The convention was attended by some 500 Muslim women and men from different states. On the occasion, a report titled "No More Talaq, Talaq, Talaq: Muslim Women Call for a Ban on an UnIslamic Practice" was released.

Authored by Niaz and Soman, it carries case studies of 117 Muslim women who have been victims of "triple talaq". The case studies were gathered from Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Karnataka.

In his foreword to the report, National Minorities Commission's former chief Tahir Mahmood said the report read like a horror story "and reveals what havoc a gross misuse of the noble Islamic law on divorce as a whole is playing in the society".