India's lower house of parliament on Thursday approved a
bill making the practice of instant divorce illegal and punishable with
up to three years imprisonment for offending husbands.
The bill came months after India's Supreme Court ruled that the Muslim practice that allows men to instantly divorce their wives was unconstitutional.
Several
opposition parties criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government
for not discussing the legislation with them before introducing it in
Parliament on Thursday. The approved bill will now go to the upper house
of parliament, where it needs approval before it becomes law.
More
than 20 Muslim countries, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, have
banned the practice. But in India, the practice has continued with the
protection of laws that allow Muslim, Christian and Hindu communities to
follow religious law in matters like marriage, divorce, inheritance and
adoption.
While most Hindu personal laws have been
overhauled and codified over the years, Muslim laws have been left to
religious authorities and left largely untouched.
Women's
rights activist Zakia Soman said it was a much needed law for Muslim
women, who have suffered legal discrimination with Hindu and Christian
women enjoying protection under separate laws.
Most of
the 170 million Muslims in India are Sunnis governed by Muslim Personal
Law for family matters and disputes. Those laws include allowing men to
divorce their wives by simply uttering the Arabic word “talaq” or
divorce, three times and not necessarily consecutively, but at any time,
and by any medium, including telephone, text message or social media
post.
Kamal Farooqi, a leader representing the All India
Muslim Personal Board, a top grouping of Islamic organisations, said
the organisation was opposed to the practice of instant divorce but
argued against the government or courts interfering in religious laws.
He
said the board was in favour of leaving the divorce issue to the Muslim
community to tackle. But several progressive Muslim activists decried
the board's position.
