Prominent Muslim body Jamaat-e-Islami Hind on Tuesday said the Centre’s opposition to the practice of triple talaq violates citizens’ right to freedom of religion. Jamaat chief Jalaluddin Umari said Muslim personal laws on divorce and polygamy are “an intrinsic part of their religion and are hence obliged to follow the Sharia in those matters”. Umari said the government should respect their position on these practices, instead of “conspiring to end them”.
“The Constitution guarantees the freedom to profess, practice and propagate one’s own religion,” Umari said, adding that the government was unfairly trying to impose a uniform civil code.
The government had on October 7 told the Supreme Court that the "validity of triple talaq and polygamy should be seen in light of gender justice". The government had said there was no reason that women in India should be denied their constitutional rights, and that triple talaq, polygamy and nikaah halal "were not integral to the practices of Islam or essential religious practices."
The court had asked the government to to respond to a batch of petitions on the rights of Muslim women that challenged the practice of triple talaq.
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