Sajjad Nomani, the member of the executive committee of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, on Sunday criticised the government for not consulting any stakeholder before drafting the bill that proposes to criminalise the practice of instant triple talaq, ANI reported. The president of the organisation, Mohammad Rabey Hasani Nadvi, would convey this message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added.
Earlier on Sunday, the board’s working committee held an emergency meeting at the Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow. The meeting was also attended by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, Hindustan Times reported.
“The board is also against instant triple talaq and agrees there should be a strong law against it and it should be made in consultation with senior clerics,” Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, an executive member of the board, told The Times of India. He said the bill was anti-women and that the board will write to the prime minister to review it.
The board had unanimously agreed that the bill not only intervenes in Article 25 of Constitution – it ensures free profession, practice and propagation of religion – but also violates the Supreme Court decision of August 22 that asked for a law against instant triple talaq practice, he added.
The Union Cabinet cleared the bill on December 15. Muslim men are allowed to instantly divorce their wives by simply pronouncing “talaq”, meaning divorce, three times. Under the proposed law, a woman divorced by her husband in such a manner can approach a magistrate seeking “subsistence allowance” for herself and her children if they are minors. Men who violate the law would also face three years in prison.
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