Southern States - Kerala

Muslim law board decisions resented

By Biju Govind

KOZHIKODE JUNE 28. Progressive Muslim organisations and liberal-minded individuals in Kerala have come out against the decision of the Muslim Personal Law Board to re-impose the dress-code (purdah) on women and legalise child-marriage. They have also condemned the resolutions passed at the 16th session of the Board held at Jamia Islamia Darul Uloom in Shivarampally in Andhra Pradesh on June 23 and 24.

Noted social activist, V.P. Zuhara, termed the decision a challenge to the Constitution and a threat to poor Muslim girls. "Such a decision will take the community to the primitive era of exploitation and backwardness. These sort of diktats will curb the mental, physical and educational growth of girls,'' said Ms. Zuhara, who is associated with Nisa, an organisation working for the uplift of women in the backward districts of Malabar in Kerala.

What provoked the Board was the recent judgment of the Aurangabad Bench of the Mumbai High Court in connection with the payment of maintenance in a divorce case. A case has also been filed in Hyderabad under the Child Marriage (Restraint) Act of 1937 against the parents of a 17-yea-old girl for marrying her off .

The Board has even constituted a high-level committee, comprising the president, Moulana Syed Rabey Hassan Nadvi, and the general secretary, Moulana Syed Nizamuddin, to study the "interference" of courts in Shariat law. Further, the committee would study the cases involving child-marriage in the States.

The Board secretary, Moulana Raheem Qureshi, at a press briefing in connection with the session had also urged the State Government to amend the compulsory Registration of Marriage Act to exempt the Muslim community.

According to T.P.M. Ibrahim Khan, secretary, All India Muslim Educational Coordination Committee, the decision of the Board was an infringement on the rights of the citizens of the country.

In the districts of Kozhikode and Malappuram in Kerala a number of incidents of child-marriage go unreported. Police come to know of such illegal marriages only after many years. Even otherwise they fail to register a case fearing the interference of religious bodies. Some of the marriages are kept secret, especially those involving foreigners from the Gulf, known in the local parlance as `Arabikaliyanams'.

Ms. Zuhara felt that compulsory imposition of a dress code was opposed to the fundamental right of a citizen. If the flimsy decisions were not withdrawn, the secular-minded progressive fora would have no other option but to approach a court to challenge the draconian measures, she warned.

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