Myths and Reality of Triple Talaq Bill

The Bill criminalizing Triple Talaq passed in Rajya Sabha yesterday (30 July). Earlier it was passed in the Loksabha. This bill makes ‘instant triple talaq’ a criminal offence and provides jail term to a Muslim man for this crime. In most of the discussions around us, especially in the mainstream media, this bill is celebrated as a remarkable step forward to defend Muslim women’s rights. Is it really so? Or is it a politically motivated step to discriminate against Muslims using the pretext of gender justice? Let us look at the myths and reality of Triple Talaq Bill.

Unilateral divorce, or the desertion of a wife by her husband without a valid divorce, is a serious offence. Its victims in India include women of all communities. The Muslim Personal Law in India treats marriage as a contract and outlines several valid divorce procedures. But it also allowed oral, unilateral divorce in the form of instant triple talaq until the Supreme Court in 2017 held it to be unconstitutional and void, that is, not divorce at all. look at the paradox: the present Bill seeks to criminalize the practice of instant triple talaq, which as per the Supreme Court verdict has already been declared as an ivalid form of divorce anyway!!

Selective Criminalization

The bill makes instant triple talaq by Muslim men a cognizable and non-bailable criminal offence punishable with up to three years in prison. So now, the desertion of his wife without a legally valid divorce is a criminal offence for Muslim men BUT in contrast, it is just a civil, matrimonial offence for men from other religious communities!!

• Because of the misinformation campaign by RSS – BJP machinery and godi media, it is widely believed that this bill is to end an injustice which is faced by Muslim women alone. The reality is that unilateral divorce and desertion is faced by women of ALL communities. According to last census which took place in 2011, around 2.4 million (24 lakh) women in India were identified as “separated”. Out of these 24 lakh women, nearly 19 lakh were Hindus, 2.8 lakh Muslims, 90,000 Christians, and 80,000 from other communities.

• Further, that it is also argued that the bill is a step towards framing a Uniform Civil Code – to replace separate personal laws for different religious communities. But in reality, this is not a step towards a Uniform Civil Code; the bill violates the country’s existing uniform criminal code by creating a specific criminal law solely for Muslim men. Unlike the Muslim law, the Hindu laws related to marriage and succession see marriage as a sacrament rather than a contract, so it does not prescribe a procedure for divorce. As such, Hindu men can unilaterally desert their wives without even having to say “I divorce you”, words that a Muslim man must utter to validate instant talaq. Such desertion has no legal or social sanction, yet is widely prevalent.

All forms of unilateral divorce, including instant talaq, must be invalidated, and treated as civil matrimonial offences. In the specific context of instant talaq, since the Supreme Court’s judgment, it has lost force as divorce. It is absolutely bizarre and absurd that BJP is desperate to criminalize instant talaq which is already legally void.

So, why BJP is pushing for this selective criminalization? How unilateral divorce or desertion is a criminal offence for men of one community BUT only a civil offence for those of other communities? Why instant triple talaq should be treated differently from desertion?

The answer is very clear: the Modi Government is using valid concerns about the practice of instant talaq to target the Muslim community. The push is for the bill is nothing but a pretext to find yet another route to harass and criminalize Muslim men.

Curtailing Rights of Muslim Women

The BJP claims the bill is to safeguard the rights of Muslim women. The facts are exactly opposite.

• A woman facing instant talaq would want her husband to be held accountable to their marriage and to continue to support her. How can a husband provide maintenance to his wife if he is in jail and unable to earn?

• The bill allows a Muslim woman to approach a magistrate and seek “subsistence allowance” from her husband even though maintenance laws stipulate that a separated woman and her children must receive enough support to continue enjoying the lifestyle they had in the marital home. So, rather than expand Muslim women’s rights, the ordinance, with respect to maintenance, discriminates against them.

The report of the Centre’s High Level Committee on the Status of Women in India, released in 2015, recommends reforming personal laws of all communities – and not just of Muslims – to make them gender-just. The Modi government has long ignored the report. The RSS – BJP are least bothered about women’s rights, or Muslim women’s rights. The Sangh machinery is only desperate to propagate the idea that Muslim men are uniquely cruel to women and deserve exceptional criminal prosecution. Indeed, a law which is really committed to ensure justice for women against arbitrary unilateral divorce, abandonment and desertion, should cover and be applicable to ALL women, regardless of religion and not to just Muslim women. Such a law should say: Any attempt by a husband to divorce his wife in any manner other than as prescribed by the family law shall be void and illegal AND Any husband, regardless of religion, who attempts to divorce his wife in an illegal manner will be brought to justice.

In sum, the triple talaq bill is a complete farce in the name of “protecting Muslim women”. When mob lynching of religious minorities is an everyday occurrence, this bill is nothing but yet another tool to harass, intimidate and criminalize Muslim men. We must expose the charade by the ruling regime in the name of gender justice, we must fight back the systematic demonization and targeting of Muslims across the country!

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