"Uniformity is not the guarantee for equality": CPI (M) on triple talaq

New Delhi [India], Oct. 18 (ANI): The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has supported the demand of Muslim women against the arbitrary practice of triple talaq and alleged that the ruling dispensation at the Centre was not interested in securing women's equality but in targeting the minority communities. "In this context the claims being made by government spokespersons that personal laws for Hindu women have already been reformed shows that their interest is not in securing women's equality but in targeting the minority communities, particularly the Muslim minority. Even now laws concerning, adoption, property rights and even the right to choose your own partner discriminate against Hindu women," the CPI (M) said in a statement. "With the offensive of the communal forces on the very identity of minority communities, any move to push the agenda of Uniform Civil Code as is being done by the Government directly and through its institutions is being counterproductive for the rights of women. Uniformity is not the guarantee for equality," the statement added. The Supreme Court will express its views on the Constitutional legitimacy of triple talaq and polygamy in the Muslim community, as the hearing on the matter involving women petitioners, religious organizations and the Centre is set to be heard today. Several Muslim women have approached the judiciary and the apex court is presently hearing three petitions against triple talaq. The Muslims organizations, however, perceive this development as an attempt to meddle with their religious practices and are boycotting the process. Earlier, the Centre had filed an affidavit in the apex court saying that triple talaq is not an essential religious practice in Islam. "Gender equality and dignity of women are non-negotiable, overarching constitutional values and can brook no compromise," the government said in an affidavit filed in the top court. The Muslim law board has claimed that triple talaq is a 'personal law', and hence, cannot be modified by the Centre. In August, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), in its reply to the petitions, had defended the validity of triple talaq, saying that if the practice is discontinued, a man could murder or burn his wife alive to get rid of her. "If there develops serious discord between the couple, and the husband does not at all want to live with her, the legal compulsions of time-consuming separation proceedings and expenses may deter him from taking the legal course. In such instances, he may resort to illegal, criminal ways of murdering or burning her alive," the AIMPLB's affidavit had stated. (ANI)