Triple talaq: A menace

Triple talaq” is becoming a menace for married Muslim women. Being a religious minority, our Muslims tend to cling tenaciously even to retrograde medieval customs. The State is rightly cautious about forcing progressive change.  Muslim-majority countries, of course, are far more confident in this respect and have overhauled many old customs deemed to be not essential to the core of Islam. In this age of rapid technological change, the bad enough practice of “triple talaq” is made grotesque when marriages are ended over the mobile phone in one go. In the original version, time had to pass between the first two utterances of “talaq”, so as to allow for reconciliation.

Fortunately, many Muslim women across the country, many of whom are banded in strong organisations seeking gender equality, have raised their voice against “triple talaq” to the chagrin of orthodox, outfits like the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board. They have welcomed the Centre’s submission to the Supreme Court opposing “triple talaq.” These arguments appear valid provided the BJP-led government does not use these submissions to force a uniform civil code. The position of the Law Commission is more nuanced. It has invited suggestions on whether to scrap “triple talaq”, retain it, or retain it with modifications.