Call of Markandey Katju to Muslims’ Community
Justice Markandey Katju in his article published in The
Hindu Daily Newspaper dated 27th June 2019 titled “Taking
firm steps to emancipation – The 2019 election mandate should make the Muslim
Community ponder over its future” had quoted at the end sane sayings of Maulana
Azad to Muslims in 1947 at the Jama Masjid:
“Nobody can drown you unless you drown yourself. Nobody can
defeat you unless you defeat yourself. The moment you realise this, you develop
the confidence that this country is ours, along with others.”
To achieve to develop the confidence that this country is ours,
along with others, Katju wanted the Muslim Community to take three radical
steps as under:
1. Accept a
Uniform Civil Code like other religious communities and thereby by implication
meaning the abolition of the outdated feudal Sharia Law. The abolition of
Sharia will not meant the abolition of Islam. Because the Hindu Marriage Act,
1955 which had abolished the entire old non-statutory Hindu law had not
abolished Hinduism. Such positive progressive steps will end most regressive
practices such as Triple Talaq (annulling marriage by simply uttering Talaq
three times) , Nikah Halala (a woman after divorced by triple talaq becomes
eligible to marry her divorced husband again only after the divorced muslim
woman gets married to another man, consummates the marriage and gets divorced from
him), Nikah Mutah (Literally meaning pleasure marriage – A temporary marriage
contract purely for sex), Nikah Misyar (Living Together type – foregoing certain
rights temporally for sex).
2. Abandon
compulsorily burqa with punitive action to those for not adhering to it. No
choice should be given as such option constitutes a ‘negative’ freedom.
3. Abolish
the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) – a non-statutory body set up
in 1973 in the time of Indira Gandhi. The AIMPLB opposed the progressive and
humanitarian Shah Bano judgment (1985), which grantead maintenance to divorced
Muslim women and which led to the Rajiv Gandhi government getting the judgment
legislatively annulled.
For your ready reference Katju's article is reproduced hereunder:
The 2019 election mandate should make
the Muslim community ponder over its future
The results of the elections to the 17th Lok Sabha and the scale of the mandate for the
Bharatiya Janata Party have made many Muslims in India despondent. But perhaps
it is a blessing in disguise.
Since Independence, Muslims have been treated as a vote bank by
the Indian National Congress and other so-called secular parties; the community
has only been used by the political class with very little having been done for
them.
As the Justice Rajinder Sachar Commission has reported, most
Muslims in India are still relatively poor and backward. They have been in the
grip of reactionary maulanas and crafty politicians with their own vested
interests in mind and who have propagated the idea that no government at the
Centre and in many States could be formed without their help. This illusion has
now been shattered by the result of the 2019 general election. The recent
interview by Karan Thapar with former Union Minister Arif Mohammed Khan
illustrates this.
The number of seats won by Muslims
in this election could now force the community to ponder over their welfare,
how to remedy the situation and improve their lives.
The main cause of their sorry plight is their backwardness, which in turn is
due to the reactionary and feudal mindsets of some leaders who claim to
represent them both from the clergy and the political class.
Path to progress
In order to change this, the
community will have to take three radical steps.
The first is
demanding a uniform civil code for all Indian religious communities. This, by
implication, means an abolition of the outdated feudal Sharia law. The law is a
reflection of social conditions at a particular historical stage of a society’s
development. So as society changes, the law too must change. How can a medieval
law be applicable in the 21st century? The abolition of Sharia will not mean
the abolition of Islam. Almost the entire old non-statutory Hindu law was
abolished by the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 —
but Hinduism has not been abolished by that.
Sharia treats women as
inferior. It permits talaq (verbal) only to Muslim men, not women, and is thus
a Damocles sword over the latter. It gives only half as much to daughters as to
sons in inheritance. It sanctifies the backward-looking rule of nikah halala.
All this has helped keep the community backward; when women who constitute half
the Muslim population are not treated as equals, it obviously and adversely
affects the entire community.
The second is a
demand to abolish the burqa as it constricts the freedom of women. However,
many have said it should be the women’s choice whether to wear a burqa or not.
But, surely, no such choice should be given as it constitutes a ‘negative’
freedom. There should be no freedom to continue backward feudal practices and
they should be suppressed if the country (including Muslims) is to progress, as
was done in Turkey by the leader, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. A heavy fine should be
imposed on women wearing the burqa, as has been done in parts of Europe.
The third is a demand to
abolish the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), a non-statutory body
set up in 1973 in the time of Indira Gandhi, whose eye was on the Muslim vote
bank. The AIMPLB comprises reactionary clerics and other people most of whom
have reactionary mindsets whose aim is to protect and continue the outdated
feudal reactionary Sharia law, which in fact harms Muslims. The AIMPLB strongly
opposed the progressive and humanitarian Shah Bano judgment (1985), which
granted maintenance to divorced Muslim women, and which led to the Rajiv Gandhi
government getting the judgment legislatively annulled. Recently, the AIMPLB
took another reactionary step by advocating the setting up of Sharia courts in
every district.
A note for youth
Atrocities on Muslims such as lynching or hate speeches, or
framing of false charges should be condemned. But there can be no support for
backward practices, whether among Muslims or Hindus (such as the caste system
or looking down on Dalits). It is time now for Muslims, particularly the youth,
to rise and demand putting an end to feudal reactionary practices which are the
biggest cause of backwardness in the community. This is the only means to their
salvation.
As Maulana Azad said to Muslims in 1947 at the Jama Masjid:
“Nobody can drown you unless you drown yourself. Nobody can defeat you unless
you defeat yourself. The moment you realise this, you develop the confidence
that this country is ours, along with others.”
Justice Markandey Katju is
a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India
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