NCW: Triple talaq ban in women’s interest

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 20

Banning triple talaq is an effort to protect rights of Muslim women and not a political issue. This was stated by National Commission for Women Chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam here today.

“We are not comparing with other women. It is not a comparison of religious laws and customs. It also does not have anything to do with the Uniform Civil Code,” said Kumaramanglam at a press conference.

Stating that several complaints had been coming in from Muslim women who said the practice of triple talaq was disempowering, she said it also curtailed the independence of women and was very restricting.

“It is a misused custom and has to be done away with. Several Islamic countries have banned triple talaq,” she said. The NCW chief met Muslim women in Hyderabad and Mumbai last year and was briefed on the practice of triple talaq and nikah halala and their ramifications by lawyers.

“There is a concern as to how triple talaq is applied unilaterally leaving women and their children in very bad shape. A majority of Muslim women are poorly educated and unable to access resources or legal help making them very vulnerable,” the NCW chief said.

The NCW is a respondent in a case filed by women rights activists who have sought a ban on triple talaq by the judiciary. The Supreme Court is hearing a batch of petitions which have challenged the legality of triple talaq.