'Unislamic, draconian': Free Muslim women of talaq-e-hasan clutches too, says plea to SC

By A Representative
Considered close to the BJP-RSS dispensation, Firoz Bakht Ahmed, formerly chancellor of the Maulana Azad National Urdu University and grandnephew of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, has approached the Supreme Court for a ban on talaq-e-hasan, a form of divorce by which a Muslim man can divorce his wife by pronouncing talaq once every month over a three-month period. He insisted, the perpetrators of this form of talaq should be jailed for 10-years.
Calling the practice of talaq-e-hasan or talaq-e-husna "void and unconstitutional", Ahmed cited a petition filed by Benazeer Heena, a journalist, before the Apex Court, stating that the curse is similar to triple talaq, "cured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi", though regretting, the bane of talaq-e-hasan continues to "haunt and horrify Muslim women."
In an email alert to Counterview, Ahmed, who approached the Supreme Court through his counsel Atulesh Kumar, said, "The only difference between triple talaq and talaq-e-hasan is the gap of three months, whereas triple talaq is given in one sitting... It is high time that Muslim women come out of the clutches of this draconian practice."
Seeking directions from the court to the Union of India to frame guidelines for uniform grounds and procedures for divorce for all citizens, Ahmed claimed, "Talaq-e-hasan and other forms of unilateral extra judicial talaq are an evil plague similar to 'sati'... Many poor women in Muslim society are leading a pathetic and pitiable life owing to the practice." Hence there should be "complete ban on talaq-e-hasan and other forms of unilateral extra-judicial talaqs."
Even though Benazeer filed her case with the Apex Court soon after receiving her first divorce notice in May this year, after which she was got second the third notices, regreted Ahmed, the court appeared to believe there is "no urgency in the matter".
First, she was declined the request and asked her to make an application before the registrar instead. On receiving her final notice of talaq, the court did list the matter, but told her counsel, Anand, to seek instruction from the petitioner, Benazeer, whether she was open to divorce by mutual consent if "meher" was taken care of.
Claiming that talaq in Islam is "the most heinous and horrendous act/ crime in the eyes of Allah", Ahmed cites the case of Sahaba, a follower of Prophet Muhammad, who approached Him to divorce his wife. The Prophet asked him the reason. Sahaba made many complaints against his wife. The Prophet then asked him if his wife just had any one good quality. Sahaba, a truthful man, responded that she did have a good quality.
At that point, the Prophet advised the Sahaba, “Look here, if your wife has 99 (ninety nine) negative qualities but just one good quality, shun thinking about divorcing her and spend the rest of your life with her just focusing on that single good quality and treat her as your dutiful wife as Allah considers the sin of divorce to be one of the most pugnacious, unpalatable and unpleasant among all sons committed by humans."
Based on this anecdote, Bhakht said, all forms of unilateral extra-judicial talaqs, including talaq-e-hasan/ talaq-e-husna, are void and unconstitutional, are arbitrary and irrational sans compassion. They also lack concern for Articles 14, 15, 21 & 25 of the Constitution of India. The court to the Union of India should frame guidelines for gender neutral, religion neutral, uniform grounds for divorce and its procedure for all citizens, he added.

Comments

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit.

Gujarat Bitcoin scam worth Rs 5,000 crore "linked" with BJP leaders: Need for Supreme Court monitored probe

By Shaktisinh Gohil* BJP hit a jackpot in the form of demonetisation, which it used as an alibi to convert black money into white in Gujarat. Even as party scrambles for answers of how the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB), whose director is BJP president Amit Shah, received old currency worth Rs 745.58 crore in just five days, and how Rs 3118.51 crore was deposited in 11 district cooperative banks linked with Gujarat BJP leaders, a new mega Bitcoin scam, worth more than Rs 5,000 crore has been unraveled.

Counterview

Search This Blog