‘Instant triple talaq a gruesome cruelty’: V P Suhara, a crusader against triple talaq petition, speaks on Muslim Women’s Rights Day

Suhara told indianexpress.com that she had filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the practice of triple talaq in 2015. However, she added she was not listed among the petitioners.

Advocate Sriram Parakkat, a lawyer at the Supreme Court, said her matter was heard as an impleading plea. “However, there was not much fanfare at that time for her other than one or two news articles about her. Other petitioners were in the limelight as I was a junior lawyer then compared to seniors who filed others’ petitions.”

Problems Muslim women still face

The 70-year-old activist, who felt victorious when the apex court declared triple talaq unconstitutional, says that women’s woes however do not end with the law enforcement. “As per the law, if a man pronounces ‘talaq’ thrice and the woman or her close relative files a complaint, the man will be imprisoned for three years. This leaves the wife with no financial assistance and she is left in distress along with her children, if any. Also, after filing a complaint, women undergo intense pressure from family and others to withdraw the case, settle the matter outside the court. In the end, the woman is the one who is in distress,” Suhara points out, while adding that in some instances, women are also supposed to return the ‘Mehr’ (the gift the bride receives from the groom on the wedding day) they received during marriage, which is misogynistic. It adds to their financial distress.

The key issues Muslim women still face are polygamy, nikah halal (practice of marrying a woman for a short while, divorcing her to remarry the former wife), the paternal authority of children, Suhara says

‘Instant triple talaq: a gruesome cruelty’

Suhara was married at the age of 15 to a man who was 10 years older than her and after four years of their marriage, the man sent her a letter pronouncing talaq. She was abandoned with two children – aged two and other two months. The social worker, who terms triple talaq a gruesome cruelty towards women, has penned down her personal experiences with the discriminatory practice in her autobiography ‘Jorayude Kadha’.

“They are not even given human consideration. A man lives with a woman for a long time and a woman invests a lot emotionally in the relationship. However, once a man feels attracted to someone else, instantly he pronounces talaq,” Suhara says. She remarks that after the law came into force, there is a sense of fear among men to pronounce talaq,” she added.

Initially, Suhara regarded her personal experience as “my fate or even as a result of my ancestor’s deeds. Later, I realised it’s a problem of the law”.

The activist interacted with several other women from the community and understood the gravity of the problem. “Our group studied the problem and went door-to-door speaking about it, organised meetings and protests against the practice,” she says.

Fight for minority women’s inheritance rights

The Nisa group filed a petition before the Supreme Court for inheritance rights for Muslim women in 2016. “Along with another organisation, we filed a case in the Kerala High Court. However, it was quashed,” Suhara says. But that did not discourage Suhara who went on to file a case in the Supreme Court. The apex court sought Kerala government’s stance. However, the state government discussed the matter with religious fanatics from the community who said there was no problem in the Shariat law. “Then we talked to the Chief Minister and gave a petition urging him to include us, women, also in the discussion,” she says, while asserting that inheritance is a woman’s basic right.

“On the basis of gender, she should not be denied her ancestral wealth. Why are women regarded as inferiors? In the case of a family with a single girl child, no matter how tirelessly a father works to earn money, a large portion of his wealth will go towards the father’s male relative. A person who desires to bestow his wealth to his own children does not even have the right to do so,” Suhara points out.

However, the veteran activist is apprehensive about the implementation of Uniform Civil Code. “We have a sense of fear as it’s the Hindutva party-led government. We cannot support it.”

“We need an alternative. We made a model bill (bringing amendment to the Indian Succession Act) after consultation with legal experts and urged Kerala government to pass it in concurrent list. The Kerala government responded saying it’s a matter related to the whole country and the Centre needs to pass the order. We may approach the central government,” she clarifies.

Fighting several odds

Suhara has been active in socio-political activities since 1987. She had spearheaded Nisa since 1997. Recollecting the early days of Nisa, Suhara said, “It all began with Sugathakumari teacher. Kerala Women’s Commission was instituted in 1997. At that time a woman who had seven children was instantly divorced through triple talaq and evicted from her husband’s house. Sugathakumari, who was the chairperson of Kerala Women’s Commission conducted a seminar in Kozhikode to discuss the issue. However, Sugathakumari was criticised by many asking why a Nair woman was speaking for Muslim women. At that time, I was inspired to form an organisation for the women in my community to bring out their struggles.”

Suhara fought several odds in her early years as she strived for the betterment of women in her community. She was termed anti-Muslim and anti-Shariat especially at a time when ‘Arabi Kalyanam’ was rampant in Kerala. ‘Arabi Kalyanam’ is a practice of Arab men marrying Kerala Muslim women and taking them to their native land. “Once they have children, the women were sent back. Their children were later deprived of citizenship here. The key problem was that they did not comply with the rules in India permitting foreigners to get married to women here.”

Suhara actively conducted campaigns and delivered a series of speeches ahead of the All India Women’s Conference held in Kozhikode in December 1990. Interestingly, she says in her book that the key office-bearers of the national conference that was aimed at women’s emancipation were men and she was given the charge of food committee. At a time when women-led rallies were not well-accepted, Suhara joined hands with other women’s groups such as Thiruvananthapuram-based ‘Prajodhana’, and ‘Prabhudhata’ led by K V Devi in Payyannur to organise campaigns highlighting women’s issues. Abuses were hurled at us and there were attempts to thwart the campaign, she says. Prominent women leaders such as writer Sarah Joseph, K Ajitha, a social worker were part of All India Women’s Conference, she recalls in her autobiography.