Triple Talaaq & UCC Time To Reform

Despite the preamble of the Constitution proclaiming India is a secular state, and justice is guaranteed to all, Muslim women have never been equal to their men – on the specious ground that this law was ordained by Allah and is the most perfect of laws for all time to come. 

- Nilabh Krishna

Article 44 of the Constitution directs that the state shall enact a UCC while other provisions mandate that the state shall not discriminate between citizens on the ground of religion, caste, gender, place of birth or language.

But by allowing Muslim men to marry four wives and divorce any of them by triple talaq, the state in effect denies Muslim women their right to equality.

The question of triple talaq is once again in the news and has triggered a national debate. This is not as a reaction to a fatwa or a judgment, but because the issue has been raised by Muslim women and is also being discussed in the Supreme Court. The Central government has for the first time opposed triple talaq which is a violation of Muslim women’s basic right to equality. The Law Commission of India (LCI) has asked for suggestions on a uniform civil code (UCC) which will have one law for all Indians from birth, marriage, divorce and succession, never mind religion. The concept of one nation, one law is more than a neat hashtag and goes back to the drafting of the Constitution. Back then, the issue was hotly debated—some members of the Constituent Assembly argued for a common personal law for marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption, while others believed that this was a goal to be achieved in stages. The directive principle—“shall endeavor to secure for citizens a uniform civil code”—was a compromise since the time was not right.

But the time has indeed come. The country is in a new mood. It’s a mood that is looking with considerable less tolerance at existing gender gaps, particularly where personal laws and religion are concerned. As women threaten to storm male-only mosques and temples, as the courts gird up to examine existing inequities, the timing seems quite right now.