Kolkata: Ishrat Jehan, one of the petitioners against triple talaq in the Supreme Court, says her life has taken a turn for the worse since the verdict. She is being pressured to leave from the Muslim-dominated Pilkhana area of Howrah.
30-year-old, Ishrat lives in a small room on the fourth floor of a dingy building. Earlier she used to manage by stitching clothes for those in the neighbourhood, and with the Rs 2,000-Rs 3,000 sent by her sisters every month. But now she has become a pariah and no one comes to her.
The Indian Express quoted her as saying “When I walk down the road, my neighbours turn away. I hear they don’t want me to stay here, some question my character, some say I violated Sharia laws. On Eid, no one called to wish us, no one visited me. I only got a call from my mother in Bihar.”
She has 4 children with her ex-husband, while the other two live with her ex-husband in Bihar, Shayeshta (13) and Zaid (7), stay with her.
It must be recalled that on August 22, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled the practice of instant triple talaq unconstitutional.
According to Ishrat she got married to Murtaza Ansari in 2001, when she was just 14. The couple lived in Bihar then later shifted to Pilkhana. Things were fine till the birth of their first child, a girl. They have three younger sons. Dispute arose between the couple meanwhile Ansari left her to work in Dubai. Ishrat says in April 2015, her husband allegedly called her up and said talaq thrice. He never spoke to her again, and remarried.
Zabina Khatun, the wife of Ansari’s brother, who happens to live in the same building where Ishrat stays, calls Ishrat a liar and manipulator. “She wanted the talaq. As far as we know, her husband never gave her talaq. Her reputation is not good. She has gone against Sharia. The Supreme Court just listened to her plea but never heard us. She just wants money and the room she is living in,” says Zabina. According to sources Ishrat had earlier lodged a case against Zabina’s husband of molestation. “All she ever brought to the family is shame,” says Zabina.
Shahroz Alam, the mufti of Kafur Galli Ghousia mosque, located in the same locality where Ishrat stays also admits that the community is angry with her. He further claimed that Ishrat has a questionable reputation. People like her have led to this unnecessary controversy about triple talaq,” says Alam.