Barelvi sect opposes govt on triple talaq, uniform civil code

NEW DELHI/BAREILLY: Influential Muslim organisations appeared to be heading for a collision with the Modi regime on its move to oppose triple talaq, with two bodies of clerics joning All India Muslim Personal Law Board to attack the Centre.
Two days after AIMPLB asked Muslim outfits not to engage with the law commission which has sought opinion from the entire socio-political spectrum on the “revision and reform of family laws’ and took exception to Centre’s stand to oppose triple talaq before SC, the Barelvi sect of Muslims said that the twin moves mark an infringement on personal laws and rights of minorities under the Constitution.
After a meeting of Barelvi clerics belonging to the sect which account for a huge chunk of Muslims in India, Mufti Akhtar Raza Khan, the “patron” of the sect, threatened an agitation if the Centre did not retract its steps, said an agency report from Bareilly. The day also saw Maulana Mahmood Madani, general secretary of Jamiat Ulama-i-HInd, a body of Deobandi clerics, dubbing the Centre’s move as “unncessary”.
Alleging that communal riots were being engineered in UP as part of a gameplan with the authorities not taking action against rioters, Madani said that bringing a law to prevent communal viiolence was far more pressing an objective than the attempt to promulgate a uniform civil code. Madani said that the government should concentrate on fulfilling its foremost duty to protect the life and property of the Muslims rather than “agonizing” over issues of civil law and triple talaq, adding that during communal riots, weaker sections and women belonging to the minority community suffer most.
Centre had justified its stand against triple talaq saying that it was motivated by the principles of gender justice while defending law commission’s attempt to sound people out on the desirability of having a uniform civil code as an “academic exercise”. The Barelvi sect said that they would boycott the questionnaire circulated by the commission to seek diverse shades of opinion on whether family laws needed to be revised in the light of Article 44 of the Constitution which lays down that “the state shall endeavour to provide for its citizens a uniform civil code throught out the territory of India”.
“As per the Quran and Hadith, triple talaq is right in principle but according to Islam, pronouncing talaq thrice in one breath is not considered as good and Shariat courts give verdict on these issues in this light. Filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court in this regard is an infringement of the presonal laws and also the rights of minorities given under the Constitution”, the agency report quoted Mufti Akhtar Raza Khan as saying.