New Delhi: As the Muslim Women (Protection of Marriage) Bill, 2015, is all set to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha, Congress leader Hussain Dalwai - brother of the first crusader for a law prohibiting instant triple talaq, Hamid Dalwai - told News18 that Dalwai would not only have welcomed the bill, but would have also demanded a clause to stop desertion of women.
Hussain Dalwai, who is also a member of the Rajya Sabha, recounted Hamid Dalwai’s fight to ban instant triple talaq when he started the protest with only seven women and great resistance from Muslim personal law groups.
“In 1966, he took out a Muslim Mahila Morcha in Mumbai. He asked for the ban on triple talaq and there were around seven women at that point of time. The rally drew international attention. But that time Muslims protested a lot against the rally. Today, Muslims say that this kind of divorce does not exist in Islam, but that time no one was ready to accept such a thought,” Dalwai told News18.
Hussain Dalwai vividly remembers the first street protest by Hamid and his wife, Mehrunnisa, who passed away this year, to usher in justice for Muslim women. “Other women, like Mrinal Gore and Sudhatai Boda were also there among the seven women,” recounts Husain.
Hamid, a self-declared atheist, was criticised by many Muslim organizations for his ideas. The Muslim reform movement was triggered by Hamid when he formed the Muslim Sathyashodak Mandal. The mandal submitted a memorandum to then Chief Minister of Maharashtra and demanded ban on polygamy, scrapping the practice of triple talaq and passage of a Uniform Civil Code.
“Dalwai would have accepted this bill wholeheartedly as he was fighting for it. His fight was not only for Muslim women but also for equality between men and women. But he would have asked as to who is going to take responsibility of maintenance when the man is in jail? Will the government take this responsibility? My brother would have also said that the women thus abandoned should also be taken care of. In 1994, there was a big rally in Maharashtra that revealed that there were almost six lakh deserted women in the state,” said the Rajya Sabha member.
Hamid was born in the Konkan area of Maharashtra. He came in touch with Ram Manohar Lohia and Jai Prakash Narayan during his time in Rashtra Seva Dal. He soon started the Sathyashodak Mandal that worked for the education of Muslim mass.
“He used to run the Muslim Sathyashodak Mandal that used to champion the cause of Muslim education and raise its voice against oppression of Muslim women. He was only 46 years old when he passed away, but in 1970 he arranged the Forward Looking Muslims Conference in Delhi. He wanted Muslims to take the Modern approach to education and not be stuck to age old practices and custom,” said Husain.
When the Supreme Court started hearing the triple talaq case in May, the justices had made it clear that they would not be entertaining the topic to ban polygamy, but Husain states that the first crusader to ban instant talaq was also against bigamy.
“He was not only against triple talaq and also for a law against bigamy,” says Dalwai.
Hussain believes that Muslims are still paying for the mistakes they made during the Shah Bano case.
“In the Shah Bano case there was no intrusion in personal laws but even then it was made out to be so. The mistakes that Muslims made during Shah Bano case are still repenting now. It was this case that led to the rise of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), who never thought of reform among the Muslims,” said Hussain.
Husain Dalwai is clear that when the bill comes up for discussion, his stand would be clear: the theme of the bill maybe right, but “it needs certain modifications.”
“None of the stakeholders have been consulted especially the women who were asking for a ban on triple talaq. At least the All India Muslim Personal Law Board should have been consulted. But they are in a hurry to politicise the issue,” Said the Congress leader.
He also stated that the practice of instant talaq prevailed among the poorer class whereas the rich were immune to it, hence certain sections of the proposed bill would be problematic.
“Is it about safeguarding the rights of Muslim women or putting Muslim men behind the bar? When the man goes in jail who will pay the maintenance? We need to understand that this practice of instant talaq only prevails among the poorer section whereas the richer ones are immune from it as they enter into a civil contract before a Nikah. They ensure that their rights are not violated but it is only the poor who suffer the wrath of instant talaq,” said Hussain.
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