Time has come for reforms in Muslim personal laws, says Sushil Kumar Modi

BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday stressed that the time has come for reforms in Muslim personal laws to ensure gender neutrality.

During a discussion on the topic of "Uniform Civil Code (UCC): Majoritarian Agenda or Much-needed Reform?" at the India Today Conclave here, he cited the practices of polygamy and "triple talaq" and said there is a need for gender neutrality in laws.

"The time has now come for bringing in reforms in the existing Muslim personal laws," Modi, a former deputy chief minister of Bihar, said.

Besides Modi, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi and women's right activist and lawyer Flavia Agnes participated in the discussion.

"What kind of law requires a divorced woman, who intends to get married to her first husband again, to first marry and get 'triple talaq' from another man to fulfil her wish?" the BJP leader asked.

Owaisi defended the personal laws and said, "The second wife of a Muslim man is entitled to maintenance and a separate house to live."

"She gets maintenance rights, a separate house to live in, and is called a wife. Whereas if a Hindu man marries a second wife, she is not even called a wife," he said.

Around 80 per cent of child marriages happened in Hindu communities, Owaisi further claimed.

Flavia Agnes spoke about the need to bring in gender justice in all laws.

On the Uniform Civil Code, BJP MP Modi said its first draft "can be expected sooner than later". "When the Hindu Code Bill was introduced in 1955, the Hindus vehemently opposed it. At the time, polygamy was more prominent among Hindus than Muslims," he said.