Tread carefully

 

There is a strong case for reform of Muslim personal laws, but it needs to be pursued carefully and with the broad-based support of the community. In the Shayara Bano case, the Centre has held the view that the said practices are not an integral part of Islam. This could be taken to mean that they are subject to executive intervention. Yet, the way in which the debate has often been framed in the dominant narrative is disquieting, and stokes insecurity and fear in large sections of the minority community. Overlooking the vivid argument and disagreement even within Muslim groups on the subject of triple talaq, for instance, a neat opposition is painted between a conservative monolithic religion on the one hand and modern ideas of social and gender equality on the other. The conservatism espoused by sections of the clergy and the community has been held up as evidence of Muslim backwardness. The fact is, the call for reforms has periodically been raised from within the community, be it in the Shah Bano case in the 1980s or the Shayara Bano case now.

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