Chennai lawyer stirs hornets nest over triple talaq

RNI, Chennai: An independent practitioner of law in the High Court of Madras and former AIADMK MLA from Triplicane in Chennai, Badar Sayeed has stirred a hornets nest once again through filing a PIL in the Madras High Court over issuance of triple talaq by men, demanding an end to the practice of unilateral issuance of talaq (divorce) certificates by the Kazis. Needless to say, the Kazis, local Muslim politicians and their supporters didnt like this. A big number of men from the community marched in protest towards Sayeeds house at Seshadri Street in Alwarpet, at a stones throw from Chief Minister J Jayalalithaas Poes Garden residence, threatening to surround her house. The protestors were stopped by the police, 100 of whom were taken into custody. While en route to meet the activist lawyer, RNI correspondent encountered a good number of derogatory posters against Badar Sayeed, which she herself cites as vindication of her stand. Which sharia allows a man to paste photos of a woman on the walls so that others could see it, says Badar adding that the Kazis, by unilaterally issuing such certificates of divorce, are denying Muslim women their right to lead a married life enshrined in Article 21 of the constitution. Actually, Badar Sayeed has filed a petition in public interest in the Madras High Court to declare that Kazis in India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, are not empowered to certify talaq. Consequently, they should be prohibited from issuing certificates and other documents approving talaq, she says. Badar cites the Kazis Act, 1880 which lays down the judicial powers that the Kazis possess. The Act was made by the British and nowhere confers the power of issuing talaq (divorce) on the Kazis. Thus there is no legal sanctity to a talaq certificate issued by a Kazi, says the activist. A former additional advocate general of Tamil Nadu, Badar Sayeed is of opinion that earlier an evil perpetrated mostly in North India, triple talaq has been gaining acceptance in South as well. While it is wrong that a man unilaterally pronounces talaq in one go, what is worse is that the Kazi too validates it without contacting the woman or the children. I am trying to help those poor Muslim women, who are left without support after talaq. There are so many cases like this around us. Helping such Muslim women is not anti-sharia, says Badar. Badars anguish is that the Kazis pronounce the divorce unilaterally, whereas the Sharia has kept provision for arbitration or counseling and rules that there should be a time gap between each utterance of the world talaq to help the couple resolve their differences. Though women belonging to other religions were sufficiently protected by legislation against arbitrary divorce,

Muslim women in India were subjected to unilateral and arbitrary divorce by their husbands, says the lawyer. Badar came face to face with the plight of Muslim women, during her tenure as MLA from Triplicane. A passionate champion for womens rights particularly of those belonging to her faith, Badar has a background of active life of social service through Roshni, a self-help group that she runs, working in the area of womens rights and female empowerment.

It came to her notice that several Muslim men, even without following necessary conditions precedent such as attempts at reconciliation and even without their wives knowledge, were pronouncing talaq. They also represented to the Kazis that they had pronounced talaq and obtained certificates to that effect. Though the Kazis did not have any authority or power, they were in the habit of issuing the certificates. On account of this arbitrary manner in which the Kazis were functioning, women were put to hardship. The certificates issued by Kazis were being used for various purposes and the women were left with no effective remedy. Though Darul Uloom Deoband does not represent all the schools of thoughts among Muslims, interestingly, last year, it had ruled that talaq given in a state of drunkenness too was valid. There have been cases of people telling the word talaq thrice over phone or sending it to the wife over sms. Over-zealous supporters of the triple talaq claim that utterance of the word thrice even jokingly would lead to divorce. If we write the word thrice, reading it too would mean that the wife will get divorced. But this too is an accepted fact that even though Darul Uloom Deoband supports such divorces, all schools of thoughts among Muslims are against such pronouncements. Following the judgment of the Supreme Court of India in Shah Banos case granting maintenance of divorced Muslim women, there were protests among vast sections of the Muslim Community in 1985. Following widespread protest, the Government of India had to enact a legislation prohibiting paying of maintenance to divorced Muslim women, but this couldnt stop Badar who had initiated a signature campaign in Madras and in the State of Tamil Nadu to mobilize public opinion against the Bill stating that maintenance decreed by the Supreme Court was humane, justified both by the law of the country and the law of Islam. Hornets nest has been stirred! A group with political aspirations by the name Indian National League has taken to the streets. A group of clergy too has gone vocal claiming that Badar has

limited or no knowledge of sharia. There are supporters of both the views within the community. While all this continues, Badar says that she is going to stick by her stand. Real News Intl. News Bureau