The issue has been projected as a Muslim issue, but it also concerns other minorities like Christians, Parsis and Jews, says Noorjehan Safia Niaz, prominent Muslim rights activist.
Noorjehan Safia Niaz, a prominent voice for the rights of Muslim women and co-founder of the Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), which has more than one lakh Muslim women as members, spoke to The Sunday Guardian on several issues concerning women from the minority community. Edited excerpts:
Q: The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) debate has been going on for some time. Do you think it is the right time for the government to implement the code that would help do away with all religious personal laws?
A: The UCC debate is as old as our Constitution, since it is part of the Directive Principles of State Policy [DPSP]. For multiple reasons, the UCC did not happen at the time of Independence. But the state has to strive towards it. The issue of the UCC was long held appropriate by our country’s feminist movement. They always insisted on family laws that are not rooted in religious traditions. But for the fear of getting co-opted by the Hindu right-wing or the fear of being seen as one of them, the feminist movement gave up this demand.
The issue has always been projected as a Muslim issue when clearly it is not. And hence many news portals and media houses question the Muslims about UCC, whereas the reality is that it is not a Muslim issue. If and when the UCC comes, it will come for the entire country, including the other minorities like Christians, Parsis and Jews. One wonders why these questions are not posed to them and also to minorities like the Sikhs and Jains who are equal stakeholders and not just Muslims.
If the government is really keen, it must seek the views of other above-mentioned communities as well and not just project it as a solution to the Muslim problem. An important issue like a UCC should not be used as a polarizing issue.
Q: How do you see the lives of women changing if the UCC is implemented in this country, especially the lives of Muslim women?
A: As Muslim women, do we even have the privilege to discuss UCC, which does not even exist as a draft? We have been deprived of a comprehensively codified family law as we go through the 76th year of Independence. There have been four piecemeal legislation for the Muslim community since 1937. The Shariat Application Act of 1937, The Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act of 1939, The Protection of Women on Divorce Act, 1986 and The Protection of Women on Marriage, 2019. Out of these four, only three give legal protection to Muslim women, wherein she is entitled to post divorce maintenance [1986], she can seek divorce through court [1939] and she is protected against oral, unilateral divorce [2019]. All other issues like marriage, polygamy, mehr, age of marriage, method of divorce, custody of children, maintenance during marriage, property rights are out of the ambit of legal protection. There are no laws for the Muslim community on these issues. In such a scenario, when she does not even have a law for herself, it is presumptuous to argue how her life will be impacted by something which does not even exist.
Q: How do you look at polygamous marriages practised by Muslim men? Do you think it should be stopped? Do you think UCC would be a codified tool to stop this?
A: It is not the case that Muslim men are more polygamous than other men, but unlike other men, Muslim men are protected from the penalising provisions of IPC 494, which criminalises polygamy with a 7-year imprisonment. This lack of legal protection for Muslim women is the crux of the issue and not whether Muslim men are more or less polygamous. We have been demanding a codified Muslim family law which prohibits polygamy and which makes the application of IPC 494 mandatory on the Muslim community. Muslim women are also the citizens of this country. They are entitled to a law which protects them within the family. Other than polygamy, practices like halala and muta must also be made illegal. BMMA has filed a PIL in the Supreme Court against the practice of polygamy and is awaiting a good judgment.
Q: In your experience, how has been the success of the ban on triple talaq? What role did BMMA play in the path to the ban on triple talaq?
A: The legislation has been a boon for Muslim women as the practice of triple divorce has stopped. The credit goes to Muslim women first as they are the ones who fought and demanded this legislation. Apart from BMMA, litigants like Shayra Banu, Afreen Rahman and others reached out to the Supreme Court for justice. The criminalization of the practice has given out a strong message to men that triple one-sided divorce is not acceptable. Credit also goes to the Muslim men and especially the Qazis who are now wary of undertaking this practice. There is much scope, however, in strengthening the law further. BMMA has also worked on an amended version of the 2019 Act including in it the method by which divorce can be given by both the parties. BMMA’s role has been exceptional as we began to talk about codification right at the time of our inception in 2007. We did country-wide long drawn consultations with Muslim women, lawyers, activists and clerics and drew up a draft law.
In 2016, BMMA filed a PIL in the Supreme Court against the practice of triple divorce, polygamy and halala. The Supreme Court picked up the issue of triple divorce and gave a positive judgment and at the same time, directed the Central government to come up with a legislation against the practice in 2019. As we move ahead, we are focussing on getting a legislation against polygamy and child marriage and we demand an immediate redress of the issue by the Central government.