Triple talaq: NCW will back Bano’s case in SC, says its chief

New Delhi: The National Commission for Women (NCW) will support Dehradun-based Shayara Bano’s case in Supreme Court demanding abolition of ‘triple talaq’, its chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam said today.

The Supreme Court had recently admitted a petition by 35-year-old Bano, demanding abolition of the oral and unilateral practice of divorce in the Muslim personal law.

“NCW is already a party in the case. We will file rejoinder in Supreme Court this month. We 200 per cent support the demand. We will do whatever we can,” Kumaramangalam said.

She was reacting to the demand of Muslim women’s rights group Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) which has sought NCW’s support to ban ‘triple talaq’ terming it as an ‘un-Quranic’ practice.

BMMA, in its letter to the NCW chief, said it has collected 50,000 signatures in support of their campaign and is in the process of writing to state commissions for women for their support.

“We have found that women want a legal ban on the practice of oral/unilateral divorce. Our national study ‘Seeking Justice Within Family’ found that 92 per cent of Muslim women want an end to this practice which destroys their life and the lives of their children,” it said and demanded “the heinous practice of ‘nikah halala’ be also abolished.

“The instant method of divorce has no mention in the ‘Quran’. In fact’ the Quranic method requires a 90-day process of dialogue, reconciliation and mediation before divorce takes place,” the group said.

PTI