'Changes to Muslim personal laws should come from community'

A recent decision by the Delhi high court which said a Muslim girl can marry at age 15 if she has attained puberty and consents to it, has become a point of debate with some like author Sadia Dehlvi saying that as long as  the marriage takes place by mutual consent it should be accepted.

“I think its a good decision by the court as it is based on mutual consent,” said Sadia Dehlvi, author and activist, on CNN-IBN while debating the issue.

One should keep that option for a Muslim girl, who if she has attained puberty at the age of fifteen, has the right to marry, Dehlvi said.

The author, a veteran journalist and author of books on Islam, also opposed the introduction of a Uniform Civil code saying , “When you talk of Uniform Civil code its a bogey that the BJP raises. The Muslim community does feel threaten the minute you talk about taking away personal laws.”

“I think there should be a change(in laws), but that should come from within the Muslim community,” Dehlvi added.

She also argued that since premarital sex has no sanction in the Muslim community, parents are often worried about how to handle situations in which their wards have indulged in it. Dehlvi said this high court’s ruling will help parents to get married their children early in these cases.