ganpaty@ut-ngp.UUCP (S.Ganapathy) (03/09/86)
I am sure that all netters must be fully aware of the turmoil the Muslim community in India is undergoing due to the controversial judgement issued by the Supereme court restoring alimony payment to a divorced women. Inspite of this issue being about a month old there has hardly been any discussion on the net regarding this. This judgement has been so bitterly opposed by the clergy " Mullas " as no others has been in recent times. I would like to inititate a discussion on this issue. To me it seems to be a mix of religion and politics. The congress party has lost the Muslim vote bank in a spate of recent elections on just this single issue alone. India Today also had a very good cover article on this subject. I would like to know what netters especially those belonging to Islam think about all this ? In US I am not aware of any particular law applying to a certain segment of population. What is the role and relevance of the Muslim Personal Law in the present day world. My purpose is to initiate an intelligent and healthy discussion on this issue and do not intend to downgrade or hurt religious sentiments.
raj@purdue.UUCP (Rajendra S Yavatkar) (03/12/86)
First I would like to point out that the Gandhi cabinet has given in to the exigencies of politics and introduced a new bill titled ``Muslim Women Divorce Bill'' which would effectively render the Supreme Court judgment ineffective. Arif Mohamad khan (central cabinet minister) resigned in protest against the Government's decision. Since we claim to be a secular democracy, I think the rights of an individual should be held higher than the rules dictated by religious leaders. The minorities in our country do deserve protection against discrimination. This can be ensured by making due provisions in the constitution as has been done in case of Harijans. But the muslim personal law goes against the princilpes on which our constitution has been based. It has hindered the process of integrating moslims with rest of the population and has benefited unscrupulous politicians and religious leaders like Shahi Imam who foment hatred for their personal benefit. To achieve the goal of building up a secular state, we first need to follow a uniform personal code which would be applicable to all Indian citizens, irrespective of which caste, creed or faith they belong to. Otherwise we soon will have 10 personal codes satisfying 10 different faiths which would only accelerate the process of disintegration. I would like to request the netters to take up the following question for discussion: Is(n't) it possible to have a truly secular constitution (devoid of any religion based personal codes) and still protect the rights of the minorities?
mcb@styx.UUCP (Michael C. Berch) (03/17/86)
Since this dialogue seems to be taking place in a world-wide forum that is primarily of North American readership, would somebody versed in the matter please explain briefly exactly what is "shariat", what Muslim law says about divorce settlements, what the Indian Supreme Court did, and what the government's proposed legislation would do? Thanks. Michael C. Berch ARPA: mcb@lll-tis-b.ARPA UUCP: {akgua,allegra,cbosgd,decwrl,dual,ihnp4,sun}!idi!styx!mcb