Fatwa on talaq pits clerics against VHP

On Monday, Khan submitted a copy of the fatwa to the court, inviting trouble for himself and the mufti. VHP international general secretary Pravin Togadia told The Indian Express over phone from Indore that ‘‘the mufti should be immediately arrested and prosecuted for he has insulted the Constitution and the judiciary. The fatwa clearly means that judgements given by non-muslims are not binding on the community.’’

The local unit of the VHP has threatened to take to the streets if the mufti is not arrested. The mufti is believed to have gone underground.

Khan’s advocate Ajay Mittal said, ‘‘I refused to submit the fatwa to the court because it is contrary to the law and sought to challenge the civil judge’s order on communal grounds.’’ He said Khan’s former wife Azman filed a contempt petition in Chavda’s court.

Unmindful of all this, Khan told the Indian Express, ‘‘The fatwa clearly states that only a man can give talaq. I am not ready for talaq because I want her back.’’ Khan had married Arzmand in 1996 but the two hardly lived for 15 days together when she left home and refused to return.

‘‘They wanted me to become a gharjamai by leaving my mother behind,’’ Khan claimed, admitting in the same breath that his in-laws had filed a complaint of dowry against him and that they accused him of cheating them by lying about his job.

The police had arrested him, his mother and sister on the charge of dowry and a case against them is still pending. Khan’s wife had also filed a divorce petition and won it. Khan said he heard about her second marriage during the hearing of his petition challenging the civil judge’s order.

‘‘That’s when I approached the mufti,’’ Khan said, ‘‘and asked whether her second marriage was legal when I had not given talaq.’’ The mufti’s fatwa was clear: the shariat law does not recognize the verdict given by a non-muslim magistrate, she can’t marry until her husband gives her talaq, if she has married again the marriage is illegal.

When a copy of the fatwa was submitted to him on Monday, additional district judge B S Ohariya gave his wife time till November 22 to reply to it. Badwani muslim jamat’s secretary Afjal Khan said he agreed with the mufti’s fatwa in that only the husband was allowed to give talaq and not wife.

According to chief of Badwani (district) Muslim Jamat Tasawwar Mirza, the community will boycott the Mufti if he did not revoke the fatwa. ‘‘Though all Muslims believe in Shariat, we strongly condemn the reference to ‘‘non-Muslim magistrates’’.