Debate on triple talaq blown out of proportion: Islamic forum

The debate on triple talaq and polygamy has been "blown out of proportion" by people with vested interests and those who want to make it a political issue for polarising society, an Islamic forum today claimed.
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) also said it is conducting a pan-India campaign, 'Muslim Personal Law Awareness Campaign' from April 23 till May 7, on educating people about the Muslim personal law as "a large segment of Muslim society suffers from ignorance" about Islamic family laws.
"The debate on triple talaq and polygamy has been blown out of proportion by people with vested interests and those who want to make it a political issue for polarising society. Their aim is to malign Islam and the Muslim community and portray Muslims as being oppressive of women and not ready to accept reform or change" the JIH claimed in a statement.

The forum today held a press conference on the ongoing awareness campaign which will span 23 states.
"There are other women's issues like abandoning of wives, prostitution, exploitation of widows and the rising cases of molestation and sexual crimes against women that are far more serious and numerically much bigger in magnitude which are being ignored.
"However even if there is a small number of Muslims who resort to the non-recommended way of divorce by triple talaq, the Jamaat wants to reduce that number and resolve the problem through community sensitisation and increased awareness," it said.

The forum said it hoped the number of triple talaq "will reduce significantly" through education and awareness.

Regarding the Uniform Civil Code, the Jamaat said, "It would not be possible for India to have such a code as we are a multi-religious, multi-cultural country and as such the concept of a common civil code is neither practical nor feasible."
The objective of the campaign also is to "remove misconceptions" among countrymen regarding divorce and polygamy in Islam by utilising all channels of mass media and social media.