Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) arranged a press conference in Mumbai on 9 May 2017 to support the petition, which is currently in the India Supreme Court, of individual Muslim women who are victims of tripal talaq (Instant Divorce). The petition has been backed by three Muslim women’s organizations. IMSD supports the plea of some of the petitioners in the apex court that these blatantly unilateral, inhuman and anti-women practices be also declared “un-Quranic”. The conference received media coverage at both the local and national levels.
In this press conference, Qutub Jahan (the URI Regional Coordinator of West India) was invited as a speaker. She said the women’s rights issue has caused a tense atmosphere since the hearing began. “We appealed to the Muslim community to maintain sanity and not to play into the hands of vested interest.”
Qutub emphasized how important it was for her to be able to speak in the conference, as a Muslim woman, “because, having knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence, I could counter biased and prejudiced notions. Also, no religious leader could challenge the statement released by us.” Therefore, she was able to demand a ban on “such an un-Islamic and unconstitutional practice on behalf of my Muslim sisters.”
She cautioned against politicizing what is really a gender rights issue. “The change we are hoping for is to create awareness about the reform in law, which is the need of the hour. Muslim law needs to be codified.” Qutub said she intends to engage religious leaders and other experts to work together and to “bring people of all walks of life to support peace and communal harmony.”
