New Delhi: Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) has launched a campaign demanding abolition of triple talaq in India.
Over 50,000 Muslim women and men have signed a petition, spearheaded by BMMA, seeking a ban on the Islamic practice.
"We demand to end the practice of oral or unilateral divorce or triple talaq and we have collected 50,000 signatures from women and men for this," the rights group said in their letter to Lalitha Kumaramanglam, Chairperson, National Commission for Women.
Terming the practice as "un-Quranic", the group demanded "a legal ban on the heinous practice which destroys the life of many women and children".
The organisation wrote to the National Commission for Women and sought its support to make the practice that "destroys the life of women" as illegal.
They had compiled case studies of women who have "suffered" the ordeal of triple talaq.
A recent BMMA study found that 92% of Muslim women supported an end to this practice. Unilateral divorce sometimes given over phone, text message and email has become increasingly frequent, leaving women with the short end of the stick.
It is t also said while codification of the entire Muslim personal law was the long-term objective, in the short run a legal ban on the practice of triple talaq would bring relief to lakhs of Muslim women.
"We are bringing out the suffering and pain caused to women and children owing to this inhuman practice," it added.
The co-founders, Noorjehan Safia Niaz and Zakia Soman of BMMA "strive for equal citizenship of Muslims as enshrined in the Constitution as well as for justice and equality for Muslim women based on the Quranic tenets".
"The instant method of divorce has no mention in the Quran. In fact the Quranic method requires a 90 day process of dialogue, reconciliation and mediation before divorce takes place," they said.
(IANS inputs)
