Activists question Hindu Mahasabha's views on 'justice' for triple talaq victims

Muslim women rights activists and feminist activists have criticised a Hindu Mahasabha official for suggesting that all triple talaq and 'nikah halala' victims should embrace Hinduism to get justice.

Hindu Mahasabha General Secretary Pooja Shakun Pandey made the suggestion in Agra on Thursday during a 'Muslim Nari Utthan Yagya', where the activists took an oath to fight against triple talaq.

Activists criticised her statement and said that the Hindu right-wing is not in the interest of Muslim women.

Supreme Court advocate and feminist activist Indira Jaising termed the comment as simply "unconsitutional".

"That comment goes against the right to freely practice your own religion that is guaranteed by Article 25 of the Constitution. It simply undermines the right of these women as it is contrary to the law," Jaising told IANS.

"These victims can remain in their religion and ask for justice. This comment is a Hindu chauvinist comment," she said.

Feminist activist and writer Kamla Bhasin said that Pandey's statement makes it clear that for her organisation it is "not about justice for women, and the purpose is to defame Islam, and promote conversion".

"If a Muslim woman wants to marry a Hindu, let her go to the Mahasabha and say that find me a husband, but I have not heard any Muslim woman who is against triple talaq saying that she wants to marry a Hindu man," Bhasin told IANS on Friday.

"The demand that triple talaq should be eliminated has been a feminist demand. That feminist demand is for justice for women. It is not to hit Muslims by anti-Muslim statements," she said.

"Justice for women is not about defaming Islam or about conversion. Anti-Muslim feeling will not help the country but a genuine dialogue will," she added.

Shabnam Hashmi wanted to know what the Mahasabha was actually doing for Hindu women who are victims of male chauvinism and sexism.

"Triple talaq should definitely be banned; but what kind of solution is the Mahasabha offering? So many Hindu women are burnt alive for dowry. All the religions are anti-women. Hindu Mahasabha should also come with solutions for problems of Hindu women," Hashmi told IANS.

"Changing the religion is not a solution at all," she said.

Social and women's rights activist Syeda Hameed labelled Pandey's statement as "provocative" and said that it doesn't deserve a lot of attention.

"These are unnecessarily provocative statements to create hatred between one community and the other. They deserve very little attention and very little reaction," she told IANS.

Hameed said that this is just sensationalism and a way to get to media attention.

"We think Hinduism is a beautiful religion. We think Islam is beautiful. We the practitioners have made a mess of it. What the general secretary is saying is not the Hinduism that I understand," she said.

Hameed is one of two women who founded the Muslim Women's Forum (MWF) with the objective of giving women a voice in all matters concerning their lives. She feels that Islam has given a lot of rights to women.

"Islam has given a lot of rights to women. Some 1,450 years ago, when rights of women were unheard of, Islam gave property rights to women which we are now talking about in the 21st century," she said, adding that anti-Islam statements are only about creating distance between different communities.

For feminist writer Nivedita Menon, "Hindu right wing is not in the interest of the Muslim women".

"This statement proves what feminists have been saying for a long time that the Hindu right's interest in triple talaq and polygamy has nothing to do with gender justice. It has to do with the Hindu right-wing politics and homogenizing India," Menon told IANS.

"They are establishing that they are not interested in gender justice and are only interested in the Hindu right-wing agenda of eliminating minority, and all diversity within Hinduism," she added.

--IANS

mg/rn/vm