South Asia | India | Culture

Uttar Pradesh’s first woman qazi demands immediate ban on practice of triple talaq

Supporting the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan’s move to demand a ban on triple talaq and dubbing it as ‘misinterpretation of ‘ayats’ (verses), Uttar Pradesh’s first woman qazi Hina Zaheer Naqvi on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to intervene into the matter and demanded an immediate ban on the practice. Naqvi said oral talaq has been widely misused, adding this puts a Muslim women’s life at risk as it is promoting more and more divorces. “I strongly oppose triple talaq. Even Quran, the central religious text of Islam, does not give any instructi

South Asia | India | Law

Hindu women can be legal head of the family, Indian court rules

Source: Times of India

In a landmark decision, a New Delhi court has ruled that women can be the “karta” — meaning the legal head of a family, according to ancient Hindu customs — a position previously reserved for men only. The “karta” occupies the superior position in a family and takes full control over property, rituals and other family affairs. The ruling came about after the daughter of a business family, whose father was the eldest of four brothers, had filed a lawsuit against one of her cousins who claimed that he was now the rightful karta. The high court justified its decision as the logical

South Asia | India | Law

Court: Gender bias in Muslim personal law is unconstitutional

Source: Pangea Today

India’s Supreme Court wants to amend the Islamic personal law that governs Muslims in the country and remove provisions in it that are biased against women. The Court says that some parts of the law are unconstitutional because they are discriminating on the basis of sex. The Islamic personal law allows polygamy and the triple talaq system (which permits the man to immediately and unilaterally divorce his wife.) Women are also discriminated against in succession and inheritance of property. India has separate personal laws for each religion that govern marriage, succession, adoption

South Asia | India | Law

Nearly all India’s Muslim women reject ‘triple talaq’, polygamy, survey finds

Source: Reuters

More than 90 percent of Muslim women surveyed in India want the "triple talaq" divorce ritual and polygamy banned from family civil law in the country, a study by a women's rights organisation said on Friday. The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) said its survey also showed that three quarters of interviewees wanted a ban on child marriage, indicating a need for reforms in the Muslim personal law which governs family-related issues in India. Activists say the current law discriminates against women and are calling for a well-defined Muslim law that criminalises polygamy, unilateral

South Asia | India | Law

Study: 89% Muslim women want government hand in codification of law

Source: DNA India

Around 89% Muslim women feel that the government should intervene and help in codification of law and 86% want religious leaders to take responsibility of justice for them. This and many other findings have come out in a study conducted by Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), an organisation that looks to take up rights of Muslim women in particular and women in general. Among the other major findings is that an overwhelming percentage of women (95.5%) from the sample study have not heard about the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB). Formed in 1985, AIMPLB is often considered t