Jamaat bats for Muslim personal law as 'fundamental right'

Opposing the idea of Uniform Civil Code, the West Bengal unit of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind on Friday once again argued in favour of the Muslim personal law and said the court should not interfere with the "fundamental rights" of Muslims.

"Unlike other countries, the Muslim personal law only exists in India and it has an equation with the country's Constitution. Following the Sharia laws are our fundamental rights and we should be permitted to exercise those rights. Therefore, we appeal to the court not to interfere with the Muslim personal law," Md. Nooruddin, the state president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, told the reporters here.

He also opposed the idea of banning triple talaq saying the option of talaq should be available to people but some basic changes in the process is needed.

"We think the option of talaq should be available to people. Sometimes separation between a couple is necessary if the relationship is not working out at all. It is far better to be separated than to kill someone over relationship disputes," he said.

However, the cleric admitted that a section of "uneducated people" are misusing these rights and said the Sharia law never supports giving talaq on "baseless grounds and harassment of women".

"Separation or talaq is a social issue and should be resolved socially. If all the incidents of family dispute start reaching the court then the families would be ruined," he said.

Stating that the Sharia laws always promote ethical growth, equality, justice and balance, Nooruddin appealed to all the political parties to come together for the initiative of equipping Muslims with authentic knowledge about Islam.

"We appeal to all the political parties to overcome their political differences and come together in the initiative of educating Muslims about the real values of Islam in order to eliminate the violation of Sharia," he added.

--IANS

mgr/bdc/rn