Paying the price

Sir, - This refers to the news report `Paying the price for saving her marriage' (Nov. 17) by Lalit Shastri, which has raised a lot of questions about our social behaviour. It shows that despite so much fuss about empowerment of women, our society is still suffering because of male chauvinism. Women are treated as a child-bearing tool. Their inability to provide male heirs often leads to divorce. Again, the divorced women are stigmatised. Ironically, males are not treated the same way. Our society should address issues that compel unwed mothers to sell their babies and those that force women like Rehana to procure babies to save their marriages.

This exposes the Muslim clerics who show no concern for women. When courts interpret the Muslim personal law in favour of women, they invariably raise the cry of `Islam in danger.' If the grievances of Muslim women are met favourably by the clerics, cases of the Shah Bano kind would not be repeated.

Arshad Amanullah,

New Delhi

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Section  : Opinion
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