Influential conservative Muslims are again defending their personal laws.
NEW DELHI – India’s top court has ruled that the right of Muslim women to seek maintenance from their husbands after divorce is not limited by Islamic religious law, an order that has been welcomed by women’s rights groups and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party .
“The men who divorced and abandoned their wives without fear will now have the fear of alimony,” Ms Bano said of the Supreme Court’s ruling.The July 10 order stated that all married and divorced Muslim women are entitled to claim maintenance from their husbands under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure , 1973.
Matters pertaining to marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance are usually dealt with under various religious laws in India, only some of which are codified. Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and Christians, for instance, have their own set of rules. As opposition to the order grew among Muslims, the Congress government at that time began worrying about a fall in political support from the community. It overruled the order by introducing the “syariah-compliant” 1986 law, one that many say circumscribes alimony rights for Muslim women.This rollback proved to be an important turning point in Indian politics as it fuelled the rise of right-wing Hindu forces amid accusations that the Congress had appeased conservative Muslims.
“So, for instance, if Muslim women approached the courts under Section 125 of the CrPC, the lawyer and the magistrate would say there is a separate law for them, asking them to approach courts under that.”
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