In 1985, Supreme Court awarded maintenance (alimony) to a 62 year old Muslim lady, Shah Bano was after her husband had given her a divorce using the Triple Talaq. This was met by the wrath of the mullahs and Muslim clergies and the majority government of Rajiv Gandhi capitulated. IN one of the most shameful display of appeasement and spinelessness, the Indian parliament overturned the Supreme Court ruling!
On August 22, 2017 – a 5 justice bench – comprising justices from five faiths, Chief Justice J S Khehar, is a Sikh, Justice Rohinton Nariman a Parsi, Justice Kurian Joseph a Christian, Justice Abdul Nazeer a Muslim and Justice U U Lalit a Hindu – of Supreme Court ruled the instant Triple Talaq as unconstitutional. The main plaintiff in this case – another Bano called Shayara – fought bravely against the hatred and abuse of the clergy and the mullahs.
Shah Bano’s daughter weighed in on the judgment.
“I am for the Supreme Court judgment in the sense that it will help illiterate women who are constantly under pressure and live in the fear of being given talaq,’’ said Siddiqua Ahmed, the daughter of Shah Bano in Indore. (Source)
Congress meanwhile has now welcomed the judgment. The main credit for which should go to BJP and Modi’s government.
But is it because of rise of conscience of Congress? Or is it because of its political calculations? A loser who simply agrees is not working off of his conscience. As is this younger Gandhi and his sidekicks.
However, Congress’s boldness appeared to have stemmed from more than simple passage of time. If even the most conservative entities welcomed the SC order on triple talaq, it was because it underlined the inviolability of personal laws.
Divorcing ‘triple talaq’ from personal laws, the verdict came as a relief to community leaders who have long feared threats of ‘uniform civil code’ or of “judicial interference in personal laws”.
Thus, Congress too did not have to nuance its reaction.
The mullahs are up in arms and are frothing from their mouths shouting that this is a religious matter and that the religion could not be litigated by the courts.
For those who want to push the Islamic society in India to reform and change, ban on Triple Talak is the first step. And, that is worrying the mullahs and the conservative Muslims.
The next target needs to be the Madrasas. The useless “seminaries” which have rendered generations of Muslims in to complete unemployment. And therefore, a threat to the prosperity of the nation. No nation can prosper if over 20% of its population compulsively strives to live in stone age! The time for heavens of virgins to crash has come!
