Reforming personal laws based on constitutional values and ensuring gender justice will obviate the need for UCC, they say.
Progressive Muslim women oppose UCC, but want gender issues to be under secular law.
A set of progressive Muslim women in Kerala have launched a campaign demanding equal property rights under the prevailing secular succession law.
However, they are opposed the proposed implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which they felt was detrimental to a pluralistic society.
The women have been advocating gender equality and justice in the Muslim community and were opposed to instantaneous triple talaq.
They opined that the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, had several inadequacies and it failed to protect women’s rights. Currently, the 1937 Act governs Indian Muslims.
VP Zuhra of NISA, a Kozhikode-based progressive forum for women, wanted the Opposition parties to fight the UCC and simultaneously recommend to the 22nd Law Commission to make the Muslim Law of Inheritance “gender just” in conformity with the Constitution.
Speaking to South First, she said several progressive Muslim women from Kerala had approached the Justice (Retd) Ritu Raj Awasthi-led Commission in this connection.
They demanded the codifying of the Muslim Law of Inheritance and bringing the Muslim community within the ambit of secular laws of justice, including the Guardians and Wards Act, Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection) Act, and Indian Divorce Act.
VP Zuhra. (Supplied)
“If the Law Commission makes the necessary changes, many Muslim women and children will regain their fundamental rights promised by the Constitution,” Zuhra said.
Without the UCC itself, such an intervention would ensure gender justice and prevent the male-centric personal law from denying property and rights to women.
Malayalam writer and social activist Dr Khadija Mumtaz said a convention of like-minded activists, religious leaders, human rights activists, and social workers was held in March in Kozhikode against the backdrop of the Law Commission soliciting views and ideas on the UCC.
The meeting arrived at a consensus to suggest the inclusion of Muslims in the ambit of acts related to juvenile justice, divorce, and succession, Dr Mumtaz, also a physician, said. She added that the suggestions were forwarded to the Law Commission.
“In the given circumstances, a Uniform Civil Code is not a necessity and it is not a solution for issues plaguing Muslim women and children. Making the Muslim Personal Law ensure gender justice is the best way forward. Also, the Muslim women and children must be made the beneficiaries of the prevailing laws on succession, divorce, and juvenile justice,” Dr Mumtaz told South First.
NISA, meaning women in Arabic, prepared a draft Bill, adding an appendix to the Indian Succession Act, 1925, and circulated it among central and state government officials concerned and the judicial commission. A copy was also submitted to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as well.
At present, the Guardians and Wards Act, Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection) Act, and the Indian Divorce Act excluded Muslims but included all other religious communities. All such matters of Muslims were being handled under the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937.
“This Act is coming under the Shariat, and, strangely, it has not been codified despite India celebrating 76 years of Independence and 73 years of becoming a Republic. The Muslim Law of Inheritance is discriminatory, and most of its provisions do not ensure gender justice,” Zuhra said.
The Forum For Muslim Women’s Gender Justice, which include NISA, has moved the Supreme Court to seek steps to ensure gender parity and equal justice in Muslim Personal Law.
“The court may have limitations, but legislation based on a larger consensus can yield immediate results,” Zuhra said.
Dr Mumtaz called for an initiative to amend the Indian Succession Act by bringing Muslims under the purview of the law.
Dr Khadija Mumtaz. (Supplied)
She also wants an additional chapter on intestate (dying without preparing a will) succession for the Muslim community, similar to the prevailing one for Christians.
Nasiya Issudheen of the Forum For Muslim Women’s Gender Justice said Muslim widows and widowers should have equal rights over their spouse’s property. Currently, the woman would get only 1/8th of the property.
“If a man dies leaving his wife and children behind, one-third of the property should go to the wife and two-thirds divided among the children,” she told South First.
“When a person dies leaving behind a child or children as his only descendant, the property should go to the surviving child or equally divided among the children, irrespective of their gender,” she demanded. According to Muslim Inheritance Law, sons get two-thirds of the property and daughters, one-third.
If parents die leaving behind only daughters, the survivors would be entitled to two-thirds of the property, and a relative will get one-third of the property. If Muslim parents die leaving behind only one daughter, she would get only half of their property. The other half would go to a relative. But a male child would inherit the entire property.
Also, if a person dies before their father’s property is partitioned, their children would have no right over their grandparent’s assets.
“Spouses and children of deceased persons should be considered legal heirs while dividing their ancestral estate,” Zuhra said.
In March this year, Kasaragod-based lawyer C Shukkur created headlines by remarrying Sheena — his wife for nearly three decades — with the blessings of their three daughters. They married under the Special Marriages Act, 1954, so that their daughters could inherit their wealth.
Sheena and Adv Shukkur. (Supplied0
Zuhra said many Muslim couples were remarrying under the Special Marriage Act to pre-empt their male relatives from taking over their wealth using Muslim Personal Law.
“The move to amend Hindu personal laws, which had followed unjust and misogynistic precedencies, faced years of opposition from the Hindu Mahasabha leaders. Even prominent figures who headed the nationalist movement opposed it,” Zuhra said.
“However, the Indian Parliament codified, relatively improved, and passed the Hindu Code Act. Gender justice has also been achieved in the Christian Succession Law, albeit after a protracted legal battle. We want the Indian Muslim Personal Law also to be similarly revised,” she demanded.
“If personal laws are reformed comprehensively based on constitutional values, and gender justice is ensured, all arguments regarding the Uniform Civil Code will become irrelevant at this stage,” Dr Mumtaz said.
“This movement for gender justice in personal laws is moving forward with the realisation that the Uniform Civil Code would undermine India’s cultural diversity, pluralism, religious diversity, and democratic religious freedom. We certainly recognise that the concerns of minorities, including Indian Muslims, in this regard are not misplaced,” she asserted.
“In the context of cultural policies and the rise of fascism, the society is being divided on a communal basis, besides destroying diversities and pluralities and driving the people into a monolithic cultural nationalism. An effective resistance against the Sangh Parivar push for a Uniform Civil Code is possible only when minorities also raise the demand for reforming the personal laws,” she opined.
“We believe that the community needs to be democratised by the modern times to counter extremely reactionary Muslim alienation seen in India today. This is also an opportunity for the community leadership to take the initiative,” Dr Mumtaz added.
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