Striking a strident note on the issue of triple talaq – oral divorce under Muslim personal law – All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Zafaryab Jilani suggested that the centre should hold a referendum on the issue before passing any law.
“90 per cent Muslim women support the Sharia law. The centre can hold a vote on the issue of triple talaq,” Mr. Jilani, the Additional Advocate General of Uttar Pradesh, said.
“The move of banning triple talaq is a conspiracy to impose Uniform Civil Code. The Muslims will not tolerate any interference in their personal law,” he warned while saying that divorce itself was discouraged in Islam.
He also alleged that the move to ban ‘Triple Talaq’ is an attempt to impose “Uniform Civil Code’ in the country.
The AIMPLB member, however, clarified that divorce is considered an unpleasant act in Islam and that it is, in fact, discouraged.
Describing October 7, the day the Centre filed the affidavit, as a ‘black day for secularism and democracy’, a panel of religious figures which include All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmaniand chancellor of Islamic seminary Jamia Nizamia, Syed Akber Nizamuddin Hussaini, also a board member, among others, said in a statement: “Those who are adherents of all schools of Islamic thought in India unanimously say that Muslim personal laws are binding on them. Despite this, the Government of India’s issuing a statement against Muslim personal laws in the Supreme Court certainly means that it is conspiring to take away from the community its religious rights.”
Mr. Qasim Rasool Ilyas, member of Muslim Personal Law Board while reacting on the affidavit submitted by the Central Govt. told that implementation of Uniform Civil Code is a conspiracy against the Muslims of this country. He further told that All India Muslim Personal Law Board was not surprised at this act of the Govt. because it is according to the expectations. He also told that Govt. of India has prepared a secret plan to implement Uniform Civil Code without caring for Constitution of India and the present laws.
