The Muslim Women’s Rights Day is annually celebrated across India on 1st August to commemorate the enactment of Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, which prohibits the practice of triple talaq in India.
- 1st August 2023 marks the observance of the 4th Muslim Women’s Rights Day.
- The legislation declared that triple talaq is a cognizable and non-bailable offense and shall also sentence any such perpetrator to three years of imprisonment.
- The 1st ever Muslim Women Rights Day was observed on 1st August 2020.
Triple talaq:
i.The term ‘Talaq’ derives from Arabic verse which means ‘freeing or undoing the knot‘ that refers to a divorce or dissolution of marriage.
ii.It is the practice prevalent in the Muslim community that allows a husband to instantly divorce his wife by uttering ‘talaq’ three times.
iii.Under Muslim law, Triple talaq means liberty from the relationship of marriage, eventually or immediately.
iv.This instant divorce is called Triple Talaq, also known as Talaq-e-biddat.
Background:
In August 2017, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had declared the practice of talaq-e-biddat (a heretical form of divorce based on a husband pronouncing divorce thrice in quick succession) as unconstitutional.The bill faced opposition in the Rajya Sabha, leading to its initial stall, but it was reintroduced and successfully passed by both Houses of Parliament in July 2019.
i.The Triple talaq bill also known as the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, was passed by the Indian Parliament on 30th July 2019, to make instant Triple talaq in any form such as spoken, written, or by electronic means void and a criminal offense.
ii.Then President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the bill on 1st August 2019 and criminalized triple talaq in India.
iii.In 2020,Ministry of Minority Affairs was initiated to commemorate the ‘Muslim Mahila Adhikar Diwas’ (Muslim Women’s Rights Day) on August 1.
Triple talaq in other nations:
- Egypt was the first most Muslim populated country abolished Triple Talaq in 1929. Sudan in 1929, Pakistan in 1956, Bangladesh in 1972, Iraq in 1959, Syria in 1953 and Malaysia in 1969 abolished the practice of Triple Talaq.
- Cyprus, Jordan, Algeria, Iran, Brunei, Morocco, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE) also had declared the Triple Talaq as unconstitutional many years ago.
About Ministry of Minority Affairs:
Union Minister- Smriti Zubin Irani (Constituency-Amethi, Uttar Pradesh)
Minister of State (MoS)- John Barla
