Mumbai: Citing that certain orthodox and patriarchal males have dominated the debate on rights of Muslim women, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) has written to the Prime Minister seeking to do away with certain practices.
The practice of triple talaq, polygamy, compulsory marriage of a woman with another man if she wished to re-marry the divorced husband, are some among the practices that find mention in the letter.
According to a report in DNA, the letter written by the Muslim women’s organization which alleged that some conservative men have stonewalled any attempt towards reforms in Muslim personal law, and also agreed with Supreme Court’s observation on Muslim women’s rights. The apex court, in its observation earlier, had questioned the National Legal Services Authority of India if the gender discrimination suffered by Muslim women not be considered as violation of fundamental rights under Article 14,15 and 21.
Adding that a codified Quran compliant law was needed, the letter further reads “Justice for Indian Muslim women can be enabled either through amendments to the Shariat Application Act, 1937, as well as the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, or a completely new enactment of Muslim Personal Law.”
