["This [false and dangerous] notion has also been internalised by some Muslim women's groups, who wish to reform the Muslim law along the lines of the Hindu Marriage Act. For instance, a draft prepared by a group, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, attempts to ban Muslim polygamy. "Feminist legal scholar Flavia Agnes has cautioned that attempts to codify the Muslim law to bring in legal monogamy "should not end up subjecting Muslim women to a plight which is similar to that of the 'Hindu second wife'"."
The article below, from which the above extract is cited, is essentially a sequel to another recent article, 'Uniform Civil Code - the women's movement perspective', by Nivedita Menon at <http://kafila.org/2014/10/01/uniform-civil-code-state-of-the-debate-in-2014/>. A few points need be highlighted here. One, the "perspective" in singular is just canard. The "women's movements", NOT "movement", have very many streams having widely divergent *perspectives*. One such perspective (see: <http://bmmaindia.blogspot.in/2014/06/bmma-releases-its-draft-of-codified.html> and <http://bmmaindia.blogspot.in/2014_06_01_archive.html>), right at the moment, is being forcefully presented and propagated by the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA). (Rohini Hensman's response to Menon, at <http://kafila.org/2014/10/08/a-response-to-uniform-civil-code-the-womens-movement-perspective-rohini-hensman/#comment-170510>, represents another.) The following comment by the present commentator on Menon's article is, arguably, of some relevance: "There are reasons to apprehend that this piece is just a camouflaged attempt to shield and protect gender unjust personal laws, in a radical garb of course. "That there is not a word on the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan's nationwide campaign for codification of Muslim personal laws, by no stretch a demand for the UCC, and concomitant banning of polygamy, oral talaq and halala appears to be a clear giveaway." (That he was soon after debarred from commenting on this site, without any explanation or whatever, is yet another story, of some relevance.) A part of Menon's response, which is of greater relevance here is: "I have "nowhere mentioned" the BMMA's demand for legally ending polygamy just as I have nowhere mentioned large amounts of other information, because I was more interested in making an argument. The BMMA demand falls within the position I have described as "Support for and initiation of attempts to bring about reform within Personal Laws"." While Audrey D'Mello has apparently taken off from where Menon had left off - to deal with the BMMA rather head on; there is a clear and significant shift in the characterisation of the BMMA. From being credited with "attempts to bring about reform within Personal Laws" - which should ordinarily be considered as something, at least vaguely, positive, now we come across open unconcealed hostility. (See the citation above, at the very beginning.) (Both Menon and D'Mello take recourse to citing Flavia Agnes to legitimise their views.) ***Be that as it may, let us look at the more substantive issues raised here.*** First, the implied suggestion (implied in the claim that the BMMA is demanding something in line with the Hindu Marriage Act - what a perversity!) that the banning of polygyny is a feature exclusive to the Hindu personal law only is utterly false and mischievous. (In fact the Hindu Marriage act was put, at least to an extent, in alignment with the more enlightened practices elsewhere in the teeth of considerable opposition by the Hindu conservatives and the Right wing.) The hard fact is that monogamy is practised the world over in the modern secular societies, with polygyny having been made unlawful. One doesn't imagine that the women there, or even in India the Hindu women, are dying to get the good old (or rather nauseously stinking?) polygyny back. At the very least, that's not the going perception. And, far more importantly, if Ms. D'Mello, her mentor and their likes sincerely believe that Muslim women in India are better placed as compared to their Hindu counterparts in so far as the Muslim personal law allows polygyny and the Hindu personal law criminalises it, ***are they proposing to launch a campaign to get the Hindu personal law amended in order to reincorporate the provision for polygyny as an act of solidarity with Hindu women in India!?*** (***That shows up the utter absurdity of the proposition put forward.***)] The myth of Hindu monogamy Oct 23, 2014 By Audrey D'Mello http://www.asianage.com/columnists/myth-hindu-monogamy-031 There is a skewed perception that Muslim women have no rights because the Muslim law is barbaric. It is rather shocking that even a jurist of Justice Katju's stature endorses this view. The recent comments of Justice Markandey Katju, a retired Supreme Court judge, in support of the uniform civil code on the ground that the Muslim personal law is "barbaric, backward and unjust" has raised many eyebrows. Citing the reversal of the controversial ruling in the Shah Bano case, these comments seem to lend support to the political agenda of the present government. Coming from a legal luminary, these comments sound almost pedestrian as they overlook the gains made by the apex court during the last three decades since the Shah Bano ruling in 1985, more particularly the path-breaking judgments such as Shamim Ara (2002) and Daniel Latifi (2001) which have placed Muslim women's rights on a firm ground, outlawing arbitrary triple talaq as well as securing the post-divorce economic rights of Muslim women. Ironically, it is Justice Katju's own judgments such as D. Velusamy (2010) which have placed the rights of Hindu women on a precarious footing. There had been several earlier rulings which had upheld the rights of Hindu women in bigamous relationships by invoking a legal premise that "marriage need not be strictly proved while awarding maintenance under section 125 of CrPC". But one negative judgment, can thwart these efforts. It is ironic that in the past 60 years there has not been a sustained campaign to secure the rights of such women. The Velusamy ruling which labelled such women as mistresses, keeps and concubines has served to add insult to injury.Official reports brought out in 1974, almost 20 years after the enactment of the Hindu Marriage Act (Towards Equality) highlighted the disturbing fact that polygamy among Hindus, Buddhists and Jains (communities governed by the codified Hindu law) is higher than among Muslims (Muslims 5.6 per cent, Hindus 5.8 per cent, Jains 6.7 per cent, Buddhists 7.9 per cent). These percentages conceal the actual number of women who live in legally invalid marriages, which is huge. Around 65 per cent of the Hindu women who approach us for help are trapped in these situations. Here are some real life stories. Fifty-five-year-old Lalita, a Maharashtrian brahmin, is a school teacher. Her husband has deserted her and is now living with a younger woman. Lalita has a 20-year-old daughter with severe retardation who needs constant care, making it difficult for her to work. She cries inconsolably. While she is aware that she can file for divorce on the ground of adultery or even claim maintenance for her daughter, this is not an option for her. She needs the support of her husband to care for their daughter. Sumitra is much younger, in her early 30s, mother of two teenaged children. She is a Gujarati. Her husband too has abandoned her and lives with another woman. Sumitra has proof that her husband has a child of that relationship. The birth certificate of the child bears his name as the father. Sumitra lives with the hope that her husband will, someday, come back to her. When we suggest divorce, she is distraught. Sixty years after the passing of the Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu men continue to be bigamous or live in adultery. When a Hindu man deserts his lawfully wedded wife to live with another woman, the only remedy available to the deserted first wife is divorce on the ground of adultery or desertion. However, the abandoned wife does not view divorce as an option. Raised in the belief that marriage is a sacrament and the marital bond is permanent, when confronted with the reality of the husband's bigamy or adultery, they are left feeling cheated and violated. Even more heart wrenching is the plight of the "Hindu second wife". Let us take the case of Chhaya who used to work in a call centre. She hails from Hyderabad. She fell in love with Amit, a Maharashtrian, and got married. The marriage is registered. When Amit moved up the career ladder, he convinced Chhaya to give up her job so she can be a full-time stay-at-home mother to their two children. Ten years later, when Amit abandoned her, she filed for maintenance. Amit pleaded that Chhaya is not his real wife as he has an earlier wife in his village in Amravati. He produced photographs of the marriage and a copy of the daughter's birth certificate as proof. The court rejected her claim for maintenance. The verdict has deprived her of her status as a "wife" and rendered her children "illegitimate" in society. Manjamma is a dalit (neo-Buddhist) from North Karnataka. She is a construction worker. Her community follows the practice that if the first wife is childless, the husband can remarry. Manjamma is the second wife, but she failed to produce a son. Her husband's lawyer has sent her a notice that she has no rights and she and her three daughters should vacate the house immediately, a house built with her own earnings. Section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act stipulates that neither of the party should have a spouse living at the time of marriage. Section 11 of the Act, renders polygamous marriages void. Due to this, Hindu men who contract bigamous marriages are allowed to go scot-free without any legal obligations towards their partners. Faced with this travesty of justice, it is important to compare the legal provisions under the Muslim Personal Law: Muslim marriage is a contract, hence the consent of a bride is essential; Women can stipulate conditions which are binding (including monogamy) in the marriage contract; Mehr which is stipulated on the basis of the husband's status at the time of Nikah, is the exclusive property of the wife; The right of khula through which the wife can dissolve her marriage; Muslim men who marry more than once are legally bound to fulfil their legal and social obligations towards each wife including residence and maintenance. An un-Islamic or arbitrary talaq does not extinguish the rights of a Muslim wife. Apart from approaching a darrul-qaza, Muslim women can also approach a civil court to safeguard their right of maintenance, return of her mehr, custody of children or for dissolution of marriage under the civil law and for a fair and reasonable settlement upon divorce. Despite this, there is a skewed perception that Muslim women have no rights because the Muslim law is barbaric. It is rather shocking that even a jurist of Justice Katju's stature endorses this view. This notion has also been internalised by some Muslim women's groups, who wish to reform the Muslim law along the lines of the Hindu Marriage Act. For instance, a draft prepared by a group, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, attempts to ban Muslim polygamy. Feminist legal scholar Flavia Agnes has cautioned that attempts to codify the Muslim law to bring in legal monogamy "should not end up subjecting Muslim women to a plight which is similar to that of the 'Hindu second wife'". That polygamy cannot be controlled by codification is a painful lesson which multitude of Hindu women have learnt. The writer is the programme director of Majlis, a legal centre that provides socio-legal support to women survivors of violence -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
