Triple Talaq Ban Welcome, But Needs Implementation, Say Women's Rights Activists

The Supreme Court of India has pronounced a landmark victory for Muslim women’s rights by banning the practice of instant Triple Talaq (divorce) – whereby husbands can unilaterally and instantaneously leave their wives by simply uttering the word ‘talaq’ thrice in a sentence.

Activists and leaders working for women’s rights have welcomed the August 22 decision of the apex court, declaring the practice unconstitutional and violative of Article 14 (equality before law) and Article 15 (prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth).

The decision came on a bunch of petitions filed by various parties challenging the constitutionality of Triple Talaq; the lead petition had been filed by Shayara Bano in 2016.

The five-judge Constitution Bench, however, was not unanimous in its judgement, and the validity of Triple Talaq was struck down by a 3:2 majority.

Chief Justice of India JS Khehar and Justice Abdul Nazeer dissented, judging that the court cannot ban Triple Talaq as it was part of Muslim Personal Law and held that the central government should frame a law in this regard instead.

But Justices Kurian Joseph, Rohinton Fali Nariman and Uday Umesh Lalit held that the practice was arbitrary and unconstitutional. Justice Kurian said Triple Talaq was against the basic tenets of the Quran and violated the Sharia (Islamic law).

Welcoming the decision, Hasina Khan, a long-time activist for the rights of Muslim women and founder of the Bebaak Collective, said:

“For the first time in India, Muslim women have achieved a victory based on their constitutional rights argued out in court. Now the challenge is the implementation of this historic verdict.”

Similarly, Flavia Agnes, a gender rights lawyer and founder of Majlis Legal Centre for women, voiced concerns about implementation.

“We are happy with the ruling, though it reflected a fractured verdict as the judges were divided in their views. As far back as 2002 in the Shamim Ara case itself, it had been established that Triple Talaq is un-Islamic. But the question remains that if a husband still leaves his wife by saying ‘talaq’ three times, what should the wife do? We need to pay attention to how the decision is implemented.”

Agnes said community-level awareness needs to be raised among women. “We need to make sure that women know their rights, and know that they have legal recourse,” she said.

Brinda Karat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said, “This is a victory of secular struggles for women’s rights and this victory led by Muslim women will help women of all communities to get justice within their own personal laws."

"The Modi government’s claims that it was responsible for this is entirely unwarranted and misplaced. It had a narrow political agenda which has nothing to do with women's rights. In fact the court rejected many of the demands of the government such as to expand the hearing to include all forms of divorce, to advise on a uniform civil code etc. The Muslim Personal Law Board should give up its patriarchal stance and cooperate in implementing the SC judgement," Karat added.