TIA NEWS
The Centre has sought scrapping of triple talaq and polygamy among Muslims, saying these practices are not protected by fundamental right to practice religion.
In a fresh submission before the Supreme Court yesterday, the Centre also said that triple talaq made women socially and financially insecure.
Union government said that reforms in Muslim personal law have not taken place in the last 65 years and Muslim women, who constitute 8 percent of the population, remain extremely vulnerable because of fear of instant divorce.
The government termed the practices of triple talaq and polygamy as patriarchal notions that impeded women’s role in society.
Describing triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy as “patriarchal values and traditional notions about the role of women in society”, the Centre has said that they were “an impediment to the goal of achieving social democracy” and contrary to country’s obligations under international treaties and covenants.
“The conferment of a social status based on patriarchal values or one that is at the mercy of men-folk is incompatible with the letter and spirit of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution”, says the Centre.
“The right of a woman to human dignity, social esteem and self- worth are vital facets of her right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution”, the Centre has said.
The Centre has said this in its written submission that were filed by it for the hearing by the constitution bench commencing on May 11. The submissions drawn by advocate Madhvi Divan have been settled by the Attornewy Genewral Mukul Rohatgi.
Saying that the practise of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy were not protected by Article 25(1) guaranteeing right to profess, practise and propagate religion, the Centre has said that the “fundamental question (is) … whether, in a secular democracy, religion can be a reason to deny equal status and dignity, available to women under the Constitution.”
The pivotal issue that needed to be addressed was whether under a “secular Constitution”, could a women merely because of their religious identity be relegated to a “status significantly more vulnerable than their counterparts who profess any other faith, namely Hindus, Christians, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, etc.”
Pointing out that the gender justice was a constitutional goal of overwhelming importance and magnitude, the Centre in its written submissions has said that the fundamental right to equality “takes within its fold, equality of status” and the “Gender equality, gender equity and gender justice are values intrinsically entwined” in guarantee of equality under Article 14.
The practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy, the Centre has said, “impact the social status and dignity of Muslim women and render them “unequal and vulnerable qua men belonging to their own community; women belonging to other communities and also Muslim women outside India”.
Referring to the reforms by several Islamic countries including those have overwhelming Muslim population, the submission by the Centre say that “Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt and Iran have undertaken significant reforms and the practices of ‘instant triple talaq’ or ‘automatic polygamy at will’ is not permitted in most of these countries.”
The paradox, Centre says is that the “Muslim women in India are more vulnerable in their social status because of the prevalence of such practices, even though they live in a secular country” and their position is “weaker than women who live in theocratic societies or countries where Islam is the State religion”.
Patriarchal values and traditional notions about the role of women in society, says the Centre are an “impediment to the goal of achieving social democracy” and they are “likely to hold back the community at large, resulting in lopsided development and pockets of social backwardness …”
Describing triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy being repugnant to the guarantee of secularism – an essential feature of the Indian Constitution – the Centre has said that the lopsided development and pockets of social backwardness was not in the larger interest of the integrity and development of the nation.
Referring to All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s stand that practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy might be undesirable but are part of essential practice under the religion, Centre said no undesirable practice can be elevated to the status of an essential practice.