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The Big Picture - TRIPLE TALAQ Bill
Arguments favouring the bill:Arguments opposing the bill:
- Bill is needed so that even Muslim women also get equality on par with other Muslim men.
- Triple talaq adversely impact rights of women to a life of dignity and is against constitutional principles such as gender equality, secularism, international laws etc.
- The penal measure acts as a "necessary deterrent"
- It significantly empowers Muslim women.
- The practice of triple talaq has continued despite the Supreme Court order terming it void.
- The practice is arbitrary and, therefore, unconstitutional
- The law is about justice and respect for women and is not about any religion or community
- It protects the rights of Muslim women against arbitrary divorce
- Instant triple talaq is viewed as sinful and improper by a large section of the community itself.
- The fine amount could be awarded as maintenance or subsistence.
Concerns:
- It is well established that criminalising something does not have any deterrent effect on its practice.
- Since marriage is a civil contract, the procedures to be followed on its breakdown should also be of civil nature only.
- Civil redress mechanisms must ensure that Muslim women are able to negotiate for their rights both within and outside of the marriage
- The harsh punishment defies the doctrine of proportionality.
- Three years in prison of the convicted husband will end up penalising the already aggrieved wife and children too.
- The punishment will aggravate the insecurity and alienation of the Indian Muslim community
- In the recent Supreme Court judgement, it never said that triple talaq is to be criminally punished.
- Invoke a secular law that already exists: Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA), 2005.
- Parliament should have passed a law stating that the utterance of the words "talaq, talaq, talaq" would amount to "domestic violence" as defined in the PWDVA.
- The PWDVA was conceived as a law that ensures speedy relief - ideally within three months - to an aggrieved woman
- While PWDVA is civil in nature, it has a reasonably stringent penal provision built into it
Time has come to put an end to the suffering of Muslim women who have been at the receiving end of instant talaq for several years. More than 20 Islamic countries have already banned the practice.
- It could be just a piece of legislation rather than a kind than a kind of relief to the women.
- Some representatives have given it a political and religious color.
- Some Muslim women's groups raised concerns about "maintenance" if the husband is sent to jail.
- The mutual divorce provision is missing in the proposed law and needs to be debated.
That's why I never forget to use 'Control-F" , a standard computer command to search for a word. Hold Control & hit F. Type in...your name. If registered - it should appear in top right corner, etc. You should use it too!
R.C.