Muslim Women and Law
Reforms: Concerns and Initiatives of Excluded within Excluded
Noorjehan Safia Niaz
J.S Apte
The Muslim community forms a significant minority in the Indian and
Muslim women population is about seven crore at present. Despite the propaganda
of appeasement, the community is most marginalized (see Sachar Committee Report
1996). The Muslim women have been very adversely affected of the above
development and suffer from triple burdens: of her class, community, and
gender. A Muslim woman thus faces acute educational, social and economic
hurdles in her path to live a dignified life. Unfortunately, most of the time
her effort has been to come out the archaic and unjust social institutions and
norms and values of her own community. Muslim women’s struggle for a gender
just Muslim Personal Law (MPL) has not been accorded any priority. The law as
practiced is extremely discriminatory towards women and yet no serious efforts
have been made by the traditional male leadership of the community to constructively
address this issue. As a new beginning and a chapter in the history of the
community, Muslim women in recent years themselves have taken the lead and have
made some remarkable contribution by taking the debate on law reform at the
next level. The formulation of an ideal nikaahnama and the initiation in
drafting an alternative gender just law are some key advances made by the
Muslim women. The Muslim women not just in major metropolitan city like Mumbai
but also across the country have formed their associations and organizations to
address their concerns and to highlight the larger issues of the community,
thus taking on the leadership of the community. This chapter highlights the
efforts, initiatives and steps taken by the Muslim women in addressing their
concerns especially pertaining to law reform and challenging the long held
myths.
LEGAL CONCERNS OF MUSLIM
WOMEN
Although the Indian sub continent was ruled by the Muslims for a
quite long time, no attempt was made to enforce the shariah, as a result
different sects and sub-sects continued to follow their own versions of it. There
are two main sects amongst the Muslims; the Sunnis and the Shias. The sunnis
are further divided into 4 schools of jurisprudence the Hanafi, Shafii, Hambali
and Maliki. The Shias are further sub divided into Ismailis, Bohras, and Ishnaashari.
The Bohras are further sub divided into Dawoodis, Sulaimani Bohras. And thus it
goes on into further sub sub-sects. Apart from this there are regional groups
like Memons, Malabaris, Qureshis, Ansaris, Pathans, Halais etc. Some of them
are governed by their group/jamaat’s understanding and interpretation of
shariah. All the interpretations have one thing in common, that they are
extremely patriarchal and always understand law to be on the side of the man.
This heterogeneous community was never ever united under one shariah. And yet
this shariah was evoked to mark the community differently from others and to
deny women her rights either by not implementing the shariah or denying any reforms
in favour of women. Protection of shariah is a convenient excuse to deny women
her rights [Shahida Lateef, 1990].
As seen earlier the British successfully crushed the joint struggle
of the Hindus and Muslims against its rule by initiating the policy of divide
and rule. [Dalrymple William, 2006] During the British rule the Indian male reformers
pressurized the British to introduce legislation in favour of women. These
reforms impacted all women but were mainly legislated keeping in mind the Hindu
women, allowing widow remarriage, prohibiting marriage and ensuring right to
property to women. When the reforms of law for Hindu women took off it put the
Muslim leadership under pressure to introduce the same for Muslim women and
hence the passage of the 1937 and 1939 Acts.
Post independence the leadership of the community, the clergy, who
supported the Congress during the independence struggle, committed their
support provided it did not interfere in the Muslim personal law and other
institutions. With partition of the country the Muslim middle class migrated to
Pakistan.
Those who remained in India
turned out to be self-seeking leaders who did not take any concrete measures to
improve the conditions of the community, least of all the personal law. The Muslim
community came to be governed by innumerable secular laws but it continues to
resist even Quranically approved changes in the shariah. The State policy is
non-interference in matters of shariah even though the Muslim women have
suffered due to its non-implementation. Thus the most important and most
politicized and most neglected has been the legal reforms for women.
Uniform Civil Code and Muslim Women
The debate on reforms-in-personal-law verses the Uniform
Civil Code [UCC] has been an ongoing one. While women’s organizations favored a
UCC for gender justice, the same demand was made by right-wing forces to get
the Muslim community to give up their personal laws. With increasing attacks on
the identity of the community nationally and the changing perceptions
internationally, especially after 9/11, the community has acquired the tendency
to look inward. While a UCC remains an ideal to be achieved, in order to take
the matter of reforms forward, it is essential that the personal laws are
reformed as and when an opportunity arises.
It is also important to seek the opinion of other
minority communities on the issue of a UCC. Why questions related to UCC are posed
only to the Muslim community and why is the Muslim community always the first
ones to respond either ways when the issue is raised? Are the other communities
willing to give up their personal laws and adopt a uniform family law? Moreover
since the Special Marriage Act of 1954 is in force and is being used as an
alternative to personal laws, is there really any need for another common law? If
at all there is a need for a more comprehensive UCC then would it not be more
beneficial if it is made optional just the way the Special Marriage Act is?
These and other related questions must be discussed and debated and the issue
must be settled once for all so that it is not used as an excuse for some more
Muslim bashing. Suffice it to say that in such a scenario a reform process,
which is sensitive to the predicament of the community, and is undertaken under
the leadership of Muslim women, is the need of the hour. To substantiate this
study by Vahida Nainar shows that 52 % of Muslim women are in favor of reforms
within the religious framework. [Vahida Nainar, 2000]
Due to widespread communal violence over the last so many decades,
the Muslim community has always been on the defensive, and constantly feeling
the need to protect its minority identity. The insecurity and a sense of
alienation prohibit any progressive interface with the Muslim law which has become
a mark of the Muslim identity and any reference to reforms within it conveys an
attack on this identity itself. Muslim women are caught in a bind, always
having to choose between her rights and the rights of the community. As Vahida
puts it she can either safeguard her interests or the interests of the
community. Her identity as a ‘women’ and as a ‘Muslim’ is always in a state of
conflict. [Vahida Nainar, 2000]
The state thinks of the clergy as the true representative of the
Muslim community and the clergy thinks that by defending the Muslim personal
law they are doing a yeoman service to the Muslim community. It does not matter
to them that this defense of a discriminatory law has made the struggle of
Muslim women even more difficult. With the state recognizing only the
conservative religious voice, with the conservative sections consciously
oblivious to the situation of the Muslim women and the Muslim women themselves
still far away from the becoming a political voice – the legal rights of Muslim
women are hanging in the air.
History of Reforms
The British government enacted the Shariat Application
Act [SAA], 1937 which was an attempt at applying Shariat law and not customary
laws to the Muslim community. The Act states that the Muslim community will be
governed by the shariat and not customary laws. The Muslim women at least by
law had the right to divorce, right to remarry after divorce or widowhood, had
right over property. But her legal rights were eroded by customary practices.
Hence a need was felt for legislative changes. This passage of SAA would in
some way restore her legal rights. This law was welcomed by Muslim women and
other political leadership of the community as it served to unify the community
under one law at the same time gave rights to Muslim women as ensured by her
religion.
The community is still governed by this law. It does not specify the
content of the Muslim Personal law but merely states that Muslims will be
governed by their Muslim Personal Law. As a result, each school of thought
continue to apply their different understanding and interpretation of the
shariah. One cannot see much advantage of this Act except that it tried to
bring the Muslim community under one law. The
fact that different sects and communities are left to interpret and apply their
own laws shows the heterogeneity of the Muslim community and its laws. It brings home the fact that Muslims in India
have not made a serious attempt to codify diverse practices of the different
schools of thought. Other Islamic/Muslim countries have codified their laws and
tried to ensure justice to women.
In 1939, the Dissolution of Muslim
Marriage Act (DMMA) was passed which gave Muslim women the right to seek
dissolution of her marriage on nine specified grounds. This is the only
legislation enacted by the British, which introduced a substantive codification
of the divorce law. The Muslim Personal Law as practiced in the early 20th century
did not offer any ground on which a woman could dissolve her marriage. The
right to divorce was absolutely in the hands of men and they exercised it at
their own will. There was no legal means by which a woman could free herself
from a bad marriage. The DMMA was thus passed, not because men who made laws
were sensitive to the needs of women but because Muslim leaders feared
conversion of ‘their’ women to other religions. This
Act was uniformly applicable to all Muslim women of all sects. It shows that
despite the diversity of sect and practice, a uniform codification is possible
if the political will exists within the community.
However the Act though benefited women was indeed piecemeal. The Act
only lays down the grounds on which women can seek divorce. It does not lay
down any procedure or a time frame within which she can get a divorce. The man
can divorce his wife without assigning any reason and even in her absence. He may or may not approach the court or
any authority to seek divorce. The Act does not question or restrict the man’s
unbridled right to oral triple divorce. The Act deals ONLY with divorce
and not with related matters such as maintenance, custody of children, payment
of mehr etc. For these matters, the woman has to file separate cases under
other laws, sometimes in other courts.
The next piece of legislation came
nearly 40 years after independence in the form of the Muslim Women’s [Right to
Protection on Divorce] Act. Under Cr. P. C. 125-128 any dependent (parents,
wife, child) is entitled to the right of maintenance. Prior to 1986, a number
of Muslim women took the protection of this Code and claimed maintenance.
However, in 1986, following the controversy in the Shahbano case, the Muslim
leadership in India
holding that Cr.P.C. 125 amounted to interference in their religious matter,
disqualified Muslim women from applying for maintenance under the provision of
the Criminal Procedure Code and enacted the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. This Act was passed to
neutralize the judgment and appease the orthodox Muslim religious leadership.
The Act places the responsibility of maintenance on Wakf Boards
which either do not exist or are not
functional in many States. It shifts the responsibility of maintenance from the
husband to the relatives and the Wakf
Board. The husband knows that if he does not provide maintenance, he could
still control and harass his divorced wife by making her beg at different
places for maintenance. The husband takes responsibility for the
children till they are 2 years of age. After that the responsibility falls on
the wife. In order to claim further maintenance from the husband she has to
again approach the civil court. This negates the legal right of the child to be
maintained by her/his father and absolve the father of responsibility beyond a
certain period. Moreover, it also contradicts Muslim law, which requires former
husband to maintain boys till they are 18 years of age and girls till they are
married. The provisions of the Act are patently violative of the fundamental
rights to equality, equal protection of laws and non-discrimination on the
ground of religion, as guaranteed by the Indian Constitution to all citizens. Since
then there has been no effort either by the State or by the Muslim community to
revive the process of gender-just reforms in Muslim personal law.
Moreover, Muslim law is not homogenous and its provisions vary
according to the different sects and sub-sects. Further it is an amalgamation
of customary law and practices, statutory law and interpretations of Quranic
verses. So while a Muslim woman can go to the court to seek divorce a Muslim
man is not required to do so, he can pronounce divorce thrice and terminate the
marriage contract and this despite the fact that there is a Supreme Court (SC) judgment
against oral unilateral divorce by the husband. While gender-just reforms
within Parsi and Christian matrimonial laws are effected with the initiative
and support from the State, it is a stark reality that there exists no
political will to bring about reforms in Muslim matrimonial law that would
benefit the women from the community.
There are multiple implementing agencies that dispense justice
unlike the Hindu community where family disputes can only be addressed by the
court. In case of the Muslim community there exist shariah courts, Qazis,
Muftis [religious clerics], jamaats [sect arbitration councils] that also take
in cases of family dispute. These bodies are readily accessible and have closer
contacts with the community unlike the secular court structures, which are
expensive, inaccessible and time consuming. Though accessible they are
dominated by men who arbitrate and settle disputes, which more often than not
go against the interest of the women. These individuals and institutions have
adopted a very patriarchal, conservative and anti-women interpretations of the
religious texts and some of the more parochial groups do not recognize the
Indian Constitution and the secular legal machinery. Muslim women do approach
the family court and other localized State run legal structures but as said
earlier the time and money required to pursue the case is beyond the reach of
many women especially so of the Muslim women.
Experiences of poor Muslim women
To challenge the patriarchal interpretations and to relook at the
Quranic injunctions, feminist scholars [see Riffat Hasan, Fatima Mernissi] have
documented a fresh approach towards reading and interpreting the divine text. [Fatima
Mernissi, 2004] The interpretations are progressive and ensure that it is
possible to secure women’s rights without renouncing the religion. Indian
Islamic scholars [see Dr. Zeenat Shaukat Ali and Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer] have
extensively documented the rights of women in Islam and have given hope to many
young Muslim women to challenge the clergy and demand a gender just law based on
these interpretations. There are many positive SC judgments in favour of Muslim
women which if a Muslim women manages to reach, the SC can be used for her
benefit [Saumya Uma, 2007]. Given the fact that the Muslim law is partly
codified and what is uncodified is dependent on the interpretation of the
clerics, these judgments are relevant to propel the struggle of Muslim women
for justice.
In spite of these positive developments, poor Muslim women in Mumbai
who come for legal aid do not really benefit as they continue to be deprived of
their legal rights. The mehr amounts
continue to be meager. The data of the Mahila Shakti mandal [MSM] in Mumbai
where the poor Muslim women come for legal support shows that the women get mehr amounts as low as Rs. 501, Rs.1001
and the favorite is still Rs.786. The women does not decide the amount nor does
the girls family. The amount is decided by the groom so obviously it is going
to be a low amount. She also has no stake over this meager amount.
The community being besieged by poverty, the men especially the poor
asset less are anyway not in a position to maintain his wife. It has been
observed that women do not claim maintenance from their husbands. Only 4 women
out of 56 [Mahila Shakti Mandal Case Register, 2009] cases registered in MSM from
January 09 till August 09] have claimed maintenance from their husbands. The
reasons elucidated are that men are unemployed or have irregular employment and
hence will not pay even if asked as it is beyond his capacity. The women are
also worried that if he continues to maintain her or their children he will
also continue to exert his control and that is what the woman does not
appreciate. She would rather be independent of this relationship rather than
depend on his doles which anyway will not come after some months.
There has been a perceptible change in the attitude of Muslim women.
Earlier they would wait for atleast 5-6 or even 10 years to walk out of a
marriage. Now the time gap has reduced to a year or even less. The data given
by MSM for the year 2008 shows that the gap between marriage and case reporting
was less than 1 year for 18 women. 27 women reported for marital dispute in
less than 5 years of marriage and 20 reported when the marriage was between
5-10 years. About 40 per cent of women approach the mandal with a marital
dispute within 5 years of marriage. It has also been observed that women who
have been divorced orally and or have been asked to do halala have
categorically refused to go back to their husbands finding the whole
arrangement as hurting her self esteem. [Reena Martins, 2006]. Out of the 114
cases that the MSM received in 2008, 39 women were from the age group of 20-25
and 24 from the age group of 25-30. This indicates that very young women are
approaching the mandal for resolving their marital disputes. Collectively 63
out of 114 from the age group of 20 – 30 approached the mandal. Thus 55.26% of
total women who approach the mandal are from the age group of 20-30. [Mahila
Shakti Mandal Case Register, 2008]
This is not a national trend. Women otherwise in keeping with the
culture of tolerance put up with years of violence and most of them do not
think of walking out of marriage. But there is a different trend happening with
women in Mumbai who if in an intolerable situation refuses to bear inhuman
treatment and on getting support seeks divorce or if husband has pronounce
divorce and wants to take her back refuse to go. There are many reasons for
this walk out. Incompatibility, excessive mental and physical violence,
excessive control, excessive interference by in laws, irresponsibility in
maintaining the family by the husband are some of the reasons. Many are willing
to forego their financial rights like the mehr or things given to him at the
time of marriage in order to free themselves from this bond. A sea change in
the attitude of parents can also be seen in recent times. Earlier women were
told ‘khadi jana, leti aana’ (go in
good health and come back only when dead). Walk into the marriage and come out
of that house only as a dead body. Like all other cultures Muslim women who
have been divorced or widowed are not welcome to their maternal families. In a
city like Mumbai the space crunch in Muslim ghettos especially the slum
colonies where the poor live inhibits even the women to come back to her
parent’s house. But in the recent years parents have welcomed their daughters
and in fact insist that she need not put up with the harassment of the family.
This support is most welcome as she has support from where she needs it the
most.
Men
on the other hand continue to orally and unilaterally divorce their wives as
per their convenience. Although unQuranic and illegal [there is a Supreme Court
judgment prohibiting oral unilateral divorce] men use the threat of divorce to
keep the women on tenterhooks. But when the same women wants divorce he
withholds it to trouble her some more. Men are very prompt in giving the
financial rights to women if he has initiated the divorce. But when a woman
initiates and then demands her rights he refuses giving explanation based on
the shariah that if a woman demands divorce she will not get her mehr back.
On the
one hand there are the insensitive clerics who prescribe heinous practices like
the halala, who endorse and support oral divorce, who support the husband to be
irresponsible in avoiding maintenance. They want to continue to maintain their
hegemony over the community and refuse to let newer ideas percolate their ranks
as a result they are dogmatic, traditional and regressive. And on the other
hand are the secular courts which require huge investments of time, money and
energy if she approaches them for divorce. Given the fact that a Muslim woman
faces multiple marginalization she is not in a position to access the formal
courts. In such a scenario the mahila mandals, or nari adalats run by Muslim
women play a crucial role in supporting them.
Leadership Of Muslim Women On Law Reform
The Muslim women in the 1990s, especially after the demolition of
the Babri Mosque have been taking lead in small ways to challenge the age old
dogmas and asserting themselves for realizing their rights. The first instance
of this awakening was visible during the Imraana controversy. Imraana was raped
by her father in law. She received a fatwa which declared her marriage to her
husband as void. There was a huge uproar from the community against this fatwa.
Many Muslim women activist came forward to support Imrana and rallies were
organized to condemn the fatwa.
In sharp contrast to this was the year 1986 when the Muslim women
were hardly organized and there was no public outcry against the Act which
instantly took away a Muslim women’s right to a secular law. Imraana was not
alone as she was supported by scores of Muslim women across the country who
organized rallies and public meetings to condemn the fatwa. A social
organization in Lucknow
called Tehreek galvanized public opinion against the fatwa and supported
Imraana through the ordeal. In Mumbai, Hukook-e-Niswan Mahila Sanghatana
[Federation of Muslim women’s Mahila Mandals (women’s organization) in Mumbai]
along with other women’s groups like Women’s Research and Action Group [WRAG] organized
a massive rally to condemn the fatwa and questioned the existence and validity of
bodies like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and other assorted
bodies who issue fatwa to subjugate women. They raised slogans like ‘sarkar hamari chup hai maulana se darti hai
! (the government is silent and afraid of clerics). It was a massive show of
strength by Muslim women against dogmatic forces.
The Muslim women’s groups in Mumbai also tore to pieces the
nikaahnama released by the AIMPLB. The Board’s nikaahnama did not invalidate
triple oral unilateral divorce nor did it include the delegated right to divorce.
It did not put any restrictions on polygamy. In fact it validated violence
against women by the husband. A young Muslim girl from Mumbai called Muskaan
Shaikh tore the nikaahnama in a crowded press conference to bring home the
point that Muslim women are coming of age.
In 1996, a group of Muslim women in Mumbai got together to make a
standard Nikaahnama which ensured the rights of Muslim women in her matrimonial
home. This Nikaahnama was sent to the AIMPLB for their approval. The Board
rejected the nikaahnama on the ground that it allowed women to exercise the
delegated right to divorce. A Muslim woman if she wants divorce can get one as
it has been delegated to her by her husband at the time of marriage. This
provision makes a woman independent of men if she needs to terminate the
marriage. After this rejection another set of Muslim women in Mumbai affiliated
to WRAG took up the same nikaahanam and further modified it in favour of women
and released it in Mumbai under the aegis of the Muslim Women’s Rights Network.
35 marriages were conducted on this nikaahnama in Mumbai in the year 2005. In
2008, activists of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan [BMMA] further modified
the nikaahnama and released it during its Annual Convention held in Delhi in 2008. The
salient feature of this document is that it completely disallows oral, unilateral
divorce, it makes arbitration compulsory and puts a complete ban on polygamy. 35
marriages were conducted in Gujrat and 10 marriages were conducted on this
nikaahnama since its release in December 08.
In a spontaneous reaction, Muslim women in Mumbai called a press
conference to condemn the fatwas issued by a cleric pressuring Muslim women to
wear purdah. More than 50 women participated in the conference and condemned the
fatwas and stated that women alone can decide what purdah means to her and
whether she will observe it or not. Nobody has the right to decide for her and
nobody has the right to issue such discriminatory edicts. The press extensively
covered the event and it was widely reported.
The Muslim women activists have also taken the lead in drafting an
alternative Muslim personal law which is gender just. A National Consultation
was held in Mumbai in December 2006 to seek Muslim women’s views on
codification of Muslim law. The Consultation was attended by close to 300
Muslim women from different states like Uttar Pradesh (UP), Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh, Chattisgarh, West Bengal, Rajasthan
Karnataka etc. The delegation from different states deliberated on the discriminatory
aspects of the Muslim law. The two-day conference took up each aspect of Muslim
law and deliberated on not what the law is but on what they want. What kind of
Muslim law is aspired by Muslim women? How should be the process of divorce,
how much mehr should a woman be getting? These and many aspects of Muslim law
were discussed. The Conference resolved that the Muslim law as it exists is
discriminatory and it is time that it is codified and the conference takes on
the responsibility to work out a draft of an ideal Muslim personal law.
Thereafter regional consultations were held in Chattishgarh, UP, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Gujrat to discuss
the draft law with the Muslim women. The Muslim women enthusiastically
participated in these consultations and gave their views about an ideal Muslim
personal law. The draft is being further modified as the consultations are
going on.
Muslim women’s groups in Mumbai have been providing legal aid to
Muslim women thereby facilitating a Muslim women’s access to legal support.
These quasi-judicial informal forums have emerged as a platform to which a
Muslim woman can approach for support. The Mahila Shakti Mandal, mentioned
earlier in the article is registered body of Muslim women which has been
receiving cases of Muslim women since 1995. So far the mandal has been able to
reach out to more than 2000 Muslim women. The Mandal is supported by lawyers
who help them with such cases. Many such Muslim women’s groups have been formed
indicating that Muslim women have indeed taken on the leadership of the
community and especially remarkable has been their intervention in the area of
law reform and legal aid to fellow Muslim women. Other Muslim women’s groups
like the Samjhauta Mahila Mandal, Priyadarshini Mahila Mandal, Milan Mandal,
Hamraaz Committee, Roshni Mahila Mandal, Sujhav Mahila Mandal, Parwaaz Mahila
Mandal have been established in Mumbai.
Muslim women have been actively advocating for reforms in the family
law. In the recent history activists like Hamid Dalwai have highlighted the
challenges before the community and have advocated for social reforms. The
Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal thus formed initiated efforts for change. These
initiatives impacted the mindset of the literate section of the Muslim society.
Work at the grass roots with the masses began earnestly after the communal
violence post the demolition of the Babri masjid. Rahe-Haq, a Muslim women’s organization
worked extensively with Muslim women in Mumbai. Similarly the above mentioned
Mahila Shakti Mandal was formed in 1995 to address the legal concerns of Muslim
women. Many small and big organizations working for the betterment of the
Muslim community were established. Many youth committees emerged overnight to
carry out relief and rehabilitation work after the violence broke out. These
groups of young women and men carried out the survey of damaged homes,
identified the dead and injured, liaised with government bodies for
distribution of compensation. Some even conducted counseling and group sharing
workshops for healing the trauma of the victims.
Efforts of Organizations run by the Muslim community in Mumbai
There are 12 areas in Mumbai and the suburbs which have a
predominantly Muslim population. They make up 1.5 to 1.75 lakh of voters. [Gangan
Surendra, 2009]. Over the many years of communal strife and ghettoisation,
there are distinct Muslim localities. For eg. Nagpada, Mohammed Ali Road, Bhendi Bazar, Dongri,
Zakaria Masjid are almost entirely Muslim. Dharavi, which houses a million people,
is called Asia's largest slum. Muslims
constitute about 40 per cent of Dharavi's population. Located in the industrial
belt of Mumbai, Dharavi is a centre of small-scale entrepreneurial activity,
particularly garment manufacturing, leather processing, waste disposal, pottery
and suitcase manufacturing.[ Naunidhi Kaur, 2003] In the suburbs, Jogeshwari
east, Millat nagar, Qureishi nagar in Kurla, Park site in Vikhroli, Behram pada
in Bandra, Golibar in Khar have a sizeable number of Muslims.
Muslims staying in Mumbai are very heterogeneous. The Khojas and the
Bohra form the small but wealthy Shia sect. The Konkani Muslim who migrated to
Mumbai from the Konkan coastal belt are there in large number.[Naunidhi Kaur,
2003] Apart from these older set of sub-communities, a majority of the Muslims
in Mumbai have come from UP and Bihar in search of jobs. Muslim weavers from UP
called Ansaris came to Mumbai to work in textile mills. [Naunidhi Kaur, 2003].
Since the 1970s the poor from UP and Bihar
have been steadily coming into the city in search of livelihood and better
living conditions. They work in central localities of Nagpada and Madanpura in
small and informal businesses and workshops. [Naunidhi Kaur, 2003]
The city has thrown up many civil society groups and many have been initiated
by the Muslim community which implies that in spite of all the setbacks, the
community is making all efforts to move in the direction of development. The
community is running a large number of educational institutions, giving medical
and handling charitable causes. The work by the Muslim NGOs on the educational
front is very crucial especially when the state has dithered from its essential
job of providing easy access to education for the poorest sections of society.
The NGOs have to some extent filled in the vacuum although they do not have the
reach and the capability matching the state machinery. The nature of these
efforts is varied. Some organizations are big, others run by professionals,
some are skilled some others are voluntary. Some have registered themselves
whereas some have emerged naturally and are contributing in their own small
way. Issues like education, livelihood, medical aid, social concerns are being
addressed and that has definitely led to a great deal of awareness within the community.
The activities and programmes that they run include scholarship for school,
higher and technical education, distributing sewing machines to women,
distributing zakat during ramzaan, distributing ration, giving
medical aid. The prominent ones in Mumbai being MESCO (Modern Educational,
Social and Cultural Organisation), Rahat welfare trust, AICMEU (All India
Council for Muslim Economic Upliftment). Organizations like CSSS (Centre for
Study of Society and Secularism), Wisdom Foundation and Muslims for Secular
Democracy have been instrumental in raising, discussing and debating crucial
issues like communal violence, rights of women in Islam and thus bringing
forward a liberal and progressive understanding of the divine scriptures.
Post Babri Masjid demolition organizations especially women’s
organizations have taken special efforts to incorporate Muslim women’s issues
in their agenda. WRAG, Akshara, Navjeet Community Centre, Awaaz-e-Niswan are
some of them who have been doing long term developmental and political work
with the Muslim women. There has also been a qualitative change in the women’s
movement. While it was earlier led by women from the upper caste and class, it
now comprises of women from the dalit, Muslim and other marginalized groups who
undertake developmental as well as political work.
Muslim Women’s Movement
One can draw parallels to see the development of Muslim women’s
movement which finds its impetus in the new economic policies announced in the
budget of 1991. The growth of communal forces coupled or rather given impetus
by capitalist forces led to the complete political, social and economic
marginalization of the Muslim community. A progressive liberal male leadership
being absent the vacuum was filled in by women of all hues and classes to take
matters in their own hand. The community being in a tight grip of conservative
forces stifled the liberal voices. The demolition of Babri Mosque and the
consequent communalization of the social fabric of the country and the
insidious way in which the capitalist forces were unleashed paved way for
Muslim women to raise their voices against not only its own conservative forces
but also against the anti people and anti poor policies of the state. While the
women’s movement has done a huge task of highlighting the women’s issues and
bringing them out of the closet, it unfortunately ‘assumed the homogeneity of women’s
identity’ [Annual Report, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan]. It, for the reason
of being elitist, could not address the concerns of excluded and marginalized
groups like the dalit and the Muslim women. In fact the deafening silence in
Gujrat in which the women’s organizations participated after the genocide
conveys the insensitivity of the women’s movement. The issues of Muslim women
could not be seen to a large extent without looking at the issues of the larger
community. The Muslim women in Gujrat,
Mumbai, Rajasthan, UP, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka had already taken a lead in organizing
themselves. Tehreek and Bahin in UP, National Muslim Women’s Welfare Society in
Rajasthan, Hukook-e-Niswan Mahila Sanghatan in Mumbai, Aman Samuday, Parwaaz,
Niswaan in Gujrat, Institute for Minority Women in Madhya Pradesh, Samadhan
Foundation in Karnataka, Wind-Trust in Tamil Nadu, Muslim Women’s Welfare
Organization and BIRD Trust in Orissa are some of the examples of organized
efforts of the Muslim community. The most marginalized are taking the lead in
impacting their own lives and the life of the community. The launch of the BMMA
suggested the coming together of these scattered forces of Muslim women.
The BMMA is committed to work for ameliorating the exclusion of the Muslim
community with special focus on Muslim women and towards demanding the social,
economic, political, civil, legal and religious rights of all Muslims. It is
also committed to undertake and propagate positive and liberal interpretations
of religion which are in consonance with the values of justice, equality and
protection of human rights enshrined in the Constitution of India. It has
emerged as a mass organization of Muslim women from all over the country
cutting across class and caste. It is an andolan by the Muslim women to take
leadership of issues concerning their community and towards realization of full
citizenship.
The alienation, exclusion had created a large vaccum in leadership
which is being readily filled in by the women through forums like the BMMA. In
fact the circumstances forced the Muslim women to enter the public domain. Be
it for fighting the POTA victims in Gujrat or facing the brutal police in the
Mumbai riots in 1992, be it the illegal detention of Muslim youth in Andhra
Pradesh, be it the Imraana/Gudia case in UP – Muslim women had effectively and
forcefully entered the public domain. Forums like the BMMA facilitate to give
direction and motivation to the emergent women. There is a very visible and
palpable churning within the community. Not just women but youth,
professionals, clerics, academicians are taking an active interest in the
affairs of the community. This is the most important development since
independence and very significant especially since the sunni Muslims have never
be truly organized at the community level.
Conclusion
For too long the State as well as the larger Muslim male leadership
has ignored the plight and the voice of the Muslim women. Muslim women are
citizens of this country and are entitled to all that the Constitution
guarantees to other citizens. The Muslim women in turn must organize herself to
avail the Constitutional benefits for ameliorating the social, economic, political, legal and educational
backwardness of her self and of the community. For this
she must also build alliances with other socially and economically marginalized
groups and movements who are fighting for social justice. She must also undertake positive,
liberal, humanist and feminist interpretations of Islam for ensuring justice
and equality for herself.
To conclude it can said that Muslim women must now be heard by the
State as an alternative, progressive and liberal voice of the community. And
any debate on the issue of law reform must have the active presence of Muslim
women who over the last many years have accumulated enough knowledge and
leadership to influence policies.
REFERENCES
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4. Mernissi Fatima, Women and Islam – An Historical and Theological
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6. For a
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