Kuch galat mat likh di jiyega, 41 memberoan mein, main akeli aurat hoon (Please, don’t write anything wrong. I am the only woman among the 41 members),’’ says Naseem Iqtidar, minutes before boarding the Swarn Shatabdi Express to attend the All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s executive committee meeting in Kanpur tomorrow. Puzzled and circumspect, Naseem makes it clear to those who are expecting radical decisions at tomorrow’s meeting that the issue of banning the triple talaq does not even figure in the agenda, let alone plans to scrap it. ‘‘Item no. 1: Reading of Quran Sharif. Item no. 2: Paying of condolences. Item no. 3 .,’’ rattles off the 75-year-old, reading out the entire agenda written in Urdu. ‘‘Shariat has codified the provision of the triple talaq. Thus, it cannot be changed. What we can do is highlight the Shariat’s teaching that the triple talaq is bad,’’ Naseem says. ‘‘We can raise any issue with the permission of the chair, but the triple talaq practice cannot be challenged. Only its ills can be highlighted.” A doctorate in Urdu, Naseem appears quite resigned to issues relating to women’s rights. ‘‘The board has codified the Shariat and Page 128 of that book says a provision should be included in the Nikahanama, saying the husband gives his wife a right to divorce.A silent revolution is on, but the board’s stamp would make it known to even the lesser-educated.’’ In the last governing body meeting in 2000, a new Nikahanama had drafted this clause. ‘‘Even ulemas had endorsed addition of this clause to the Nikahanama. But our women members had objected to the inclusion of such a clause,’’ Naseem says. Naseem can only hope that in tomorrow’s meet, the newly-drafted Nikahanama will at least propose women’s right to divorce. ‘‘I hate to give Pakistan’s example, but even Shariat codified by the Pak ulemas recognise women’s right to divorce,’’ she adds. Drafting model Nikahanama The spokesperson of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Qasim Rasool Ilyas, says the board will put up a draft of the model Nikahanama, which will apprise a Muslim couple of their respective rights at the time of marriage. ‘‘If the couple has a dispute, the new Nikahanama suggests they should avoid taking a unilateral decision and go to the Darul-Qaza for redressal.’’ The new Nikahanama also proposes to increase the Mehr amount. A five-member committee of Islamic scholars recognises that a Muslim woman has a right to khula.
