What does Triple Talaq Bill mean to women

In a big victory for the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, the triple talaq bill was passed by the Parliament on Tuesday. The Bill deems instant triple talaq, a criminal offence.

The Upper House passed the bill by 99 votes in favour and 84 against it. WOMENIA spoke to few Muslim women who expressed their views at the passing of the bill. Jameela Nishat, founder of Shaheen Women's Resource and Welfare Association shares her apprehension, "Practically if you think, because man will be now be scared that he will be put behind the bars, will choose polygamy over talaq, and women will continue to suffer now."

However, many women are happy to see this bill has come to pass. The constant fear of instant talaq will now gradually disappear from their minds, they say. Arshiya Begum, a resident of Tolichowki says, "According to Islam both men and women should have similar rules.

And this law provides equal rights. People say that women will be on road if her husband will be in jail, but even if he were not to go to jail, what is the guarantee that he would still be taking care of the kids and wife."

"Imagine all those women whose husbands gave divorce over phone from Saudi Arabia; who came forward to protect these women? They were left alone with children at the mercy of their parents and brothers, living sad lives. No one came forward to support them," shares Fatima from Malkajgiri.

Many believe that Instant 'Triple Talaq' as a concept is not there in Islam. "The concept of Instant divorce is alien to Islam. There is a special process mentioned on how to go about separation, and it has to be with mutual consent; and surely not done by uttering talaq thrice at one go.

Men have just changed the rule according to their convenience. The bill against triple talaq will now make them follow Quran and Islam," says Bushra Begum from Golkonda.

Supporting the bill, Sayeeda Shehzadi a member of BJP, and Executive Board Member, National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language HRD Ministry, states, "There are people who give talaq on WhatsApp or over phone. There are cases when a woman was given Instant Talaq when wife asked him money for vegetable.

This is an anti-Islam; nowhere in Quran, in 6,666 verses is there a mention of triple talaq. In the 1400 Hadees it is not mentioned. Quran gives equality to men and women. People who are opposing this bill they don't want the development of the Muslim women; they see a woman as a thing.

This is not the victory of BJP, but they are supporting the Muslim women and helping them. We have been fighting for this since 1985 (Shah Bano case) but no media has supported our long-drawn fight. We should be thankful to our Prime Minister. If you think that this is political issue then you are wrong because over 27 Islamic countries banned this already including Pakistan, which is much behind us in development.

This is all about gender equality and I feel Muslim women got the freedom today, and not in 1947. If you are talking about polygamy, let me remind you that a man should take approval from his first wife to go for second marriage."

"If divorcing a woman saying talaq thrice has been the most regressive act in practice, this particular bill I even more regressive. In Section 3, it is mentioned that the complaint can be made by wife, or close blood relatives or relatives by marriage – anyone can complain, and the man will be immediately sent to jail and only if the wife withdraws or is present while granting the bail.

And even a good marriage can crumble like this. A man goes to jail and comes back, he will surely not want to live with his wife. And in the absence of being able to give divorce, the man with bad intentions will choose to abandon his wife, just like our Prime Minister because he is unable to dissolve his marriage.

Moreover, there were no consultations done, the Women Ministry or Social Welfare Ministry were not consulted. How can one cabinet committee constituting commerce, finance and law decide the fate of the majority Muslim women," laments Dr Lubna Sarwath, General Secretary, Socialist Party (India).

"There is a set procedure for Triple Talaq as laid out in Quran is humane, modern, and participative. This has been ratified by several courts including the Supreme Court in 2017.

Why was this not taken into consideration while drafting the bill? Agreed that Muslim men undermined Quran and they considered Instant Talaq to be the way to give divorce and neither the Muslim Personal Law Board nor Muslim political leaders did not make the men and women aware of the valid procedure of talaq as per Quran.

The onus of familiarizing everyone with the procedure falls with the government of India. Instead, without involving the stake holders a regressive bill has been passed, which will make the matters worse," she adds.