Triple talaq: Muslim women's body slams AIMPLB signature drive as move to mislead

Lucknow: Amid the raging debate over ’triple talaq’, All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) on Sunday crticised the signature campaign launched by the AIMPLB, dubbing it as a move to “mislead” women from the community. “The campaign is not to empower Muslim women but to mislead them,” AIMWPLB President Shaista Amber told PTI in Lucknow. Her comments came days after the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) carried out a signature campaign against Centre’s affidavit in the Supreme Court against ’triple talaq’ and the questionnaire prepared by the Law Commission regarding Uniform Civil Code. She said it would have been better had the AIMPLB written in its documents that it wholeheartedly supported the provisions in the Holy Quran about ’triple talaq’. [caption id=“attachment_3091660” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] AIMPLB could also punish those who utter ’talaq’ thrice in one go, she suggested. Amber said the affidavit before the apex court smacked of votebank politics and efforts to disintegrate the society. “On the pretext of the issue, the government was trying to push the agenda implementing Uniform Civil Code,” she said. Implementation of a common code is part of the BJP’s election manifesto. Amber said that rather than following the clerics, Muslims should abide by what is written in the Quran. This would also ensure that there is no tinkering with the basic spirit of the Muslim Personal Law. On the issue of ’triple talaq’, the Centre had in an affidavit in the Supreme Court last month opposed the practice. The AIMPLB and various other outfits have objected to the affidavit and Law Commission’s questionnaire on Uniform Civil Code and announced their boycott of the move, accusing the government of waging a “war” against the community. In an appeal issued on 7 October, the Commission had said the objective of the endeavour was to address discrimination against vulnerable groups and harmonise various cultural practices. In the appeal, it has assured the people that the “norms of no one class, group or community will dominate the tone and tenor of family law reforms”. Indicating need for wider consultation before taking a call on Uniform Civil Code, the government had in June asked the Law Commission to examine the issue. The move asking the law panel to examine the issue assumes significance as the Supreme Court had recently said it would prefer a wider debate, in public as well as in court, before taking a decision on the constitutional validity of triple talaq, which many complain is abused by Muslim men to arbitrarily divorce their wives.