‘We are fighting the good fight’

Activist lauds alimony ruling claims artificial fear being touted to suit a conservative few

All the adjectives like ‘progressive’ and ‘historical’ used for the Supreme Court ruling that a divorced Muslim woman is entitled to seek maintenance from her husband under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is not hyperbole but fits like the proverbial glove.

Superlative
This ruling is progressive, historical, and much more. It should have come a long time ago, and now that it is here, it is welcome. This, of course, happened because a divorced woman asked for alimony/maintenance. The family court upheld her right but that was challenged by her husband in the high court. When the high court ruled in her favour, it was challenged in the Supreme Court, and the highest court of the land too ruled in her favour, with a ruling that will positively impact Muslim women.

This has been a tremendous fight by the pathbreaker, most women would have given up either because it is too difficult, or the formidable costs involved in the legal battle. This woman who has lit the path for others stood her ground and took the fight right to the end. Even with the best intent in the world, it is surely not easy to do that. The Courts need to take Suo Moto cognisance of laws when it comes to gender parity and justice. We must also think that this woman may have had a support system in terms of family and friends who stood by her during this fight. This should remind us that not all Muslims are conservative or regressive.

Aftermath
Looking at the immediate aftermath, there has been much debate and even dissension about this ruling. There are sections of Muslims who insist this is interference in the personal laws of the community. This is an extremely archaic argument by those opposing it. We cannot look at this through a personal ambit, through a ‘this matter is within the family or community’ prism. Do we not have cases where a brother kills his brother or son kills his father? Is that an intra-family matter and the law should not be applied in that case? We are not living in medieval times.

Currently, when a married couple divorces, the man will pay maintenance/alimony for three months -- the period of iddah. How is that adequate? A woman may suffer a long time post-divorce, possibly forever. So, she is entitled to alimony, whatever sum is decided. It is always important to use entitled as rightly has the court said, the alimony is a right, not charity. Every human needs a life of dignity. The woman has made sacrifices in the marriage. Looked after the home, children, possibly the husband’s parents too in illness, etc. That is why I call this statement by the Court: not charity, but a fundamental right, a lovely way to put it, one that should resonate with all those who believe in the fundamental principle of equality.

Fear
There are all these statements being bandied about that this ruling is yet another attempt to chip away at the Muslim identity, an onslaught on the religion, etc. This is an unfounded and in fact, even artificially created fear. I would first like to highlight though that in the past 10 years, we have seen mob lynching, and bulldozer raj where the community to some extent and rightly so, did feel targeted. Yet, there was a legal framework and courts that one could approach. The fear of those attacks had some basis. However, there can be no fear from this ruling which is a step in the right direction. Then again, we have all this talk about rulings like these opening the door to Uniform Civil Code (UCC). This will not happen as it is a coalition government at the centre. What the Muslim community needs to do is reform and codify their laws. 

Reforms
There are several other corrections we are looking towards. One is the age of marriage in the Muslim community which should be 18 for girls and 21 for boys, instead of 15 years for girls on attaining puberty, as personal laws state. The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) is also fighting for polygamy to be made illegal. With all the battles ahead, it is when a ruling like this comes in, that the sun starts shining through the darkness and cements our belief that we are fighting the good fight. To bring about balance in the scales of justice impacts not just the community but society as a whole.

As told to Hemal Ashar

The columnist is a co-founder, of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan

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