AIMPLB U- turn on TT, Muslims are  clueless,  leaders directionless

By  Abdul hafiz lakhani      Ahmedabad 

Muslim community is in the tight grip of some so called champion of community. AIMPLB has some big guns who are close to some political parties. Some of the move by them have always political color. 

After so many demonstration on Triple Talaq bill of center  government led by Modi, In a surprise move the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has called off nationwide agitations against Triple Talaq Bill of Modi government.

Board’s general secretary Maulana Wali Rahmani  in a press release has instructed to wind up all agitations planned  against Triple Talaq Bill  being held across the country.Maulana Rahmani didn’t give any clarification regarding his U-Turn on  the agitation.It should be noted that Board’s decision to include Muslim women in the protest ware being criticized from many quarters.

The reality is that a large number of dissenting voices are emerging from within the AIMPLB  on the manner in which the whole exercise is being carried. For instance, Razi-ul-Islam Nadvi, secretary of Idara-e-Tahqeeq-o-Tasneef-e-Islami, a sort of think-tank of Jamaat-e-Islami, a constituent of the Board, in a Facebook post questioned the way Muslim women were made to march on the streets with banners and placards.

Off the record there is no dearth of Muslim intellectuals as well as those within the AIMPLB, who are of the view, that the issue of Talaq-e-Biddat (biddat means any new practice introduced in Islam which is neither mentioned in Quran, nor practised by Prophet Mohammad) has been hijacked by the likes of Asaduddin Owaisi, MP from Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-e-Ittihadul-e-Muslimeen and Maulana Wali Rahmani of Emarat-e-Shariah.

AIMPLB has humiliated Indian Muslims

Let us take a look in recent past about this controversy .AIMPLB and Ulemas are responsible for the humiliation of Indian Muslims. Supreme Court kept asking for alternative of Triple Talaq (a pre-Islamic practice, which came into vogue during the times of Caliph Umar). Instead of going with the suggestion that we will follow the Quran, the AIMPLB and Ulemas kept repeating the “Boycott and Fine” method as remedy to eliminate Triple Talaq. They were delusional to think that Supreme Court will give the law enforcement rights (imposing fine/ boycott) to them. They were also wrong to think that Supreme Court will buy this argument that fine/ boycott will eliminate this abhorrent practice.

They were unaware of the gravity of the situation. They were thinking that Supreme Court will outlaw it, but we will continue to practice it. People like Asaduddin Owaisi, Maulana Arshad Madni etc voiced this strategy, to counter a potentially adverse judgment on instant triple talaq. It never crossed their mind that judges can foresee the problem in banning something without an alternative. This is why judges kept asking for an alternative from AIMPLB and Ulemas. Helplessness, incompetence or regressive mentality (or all of it) came in the way of them taking a position which is consistent with Quran.

RSS will frame divorce laws for Muslims

Net result is that now the RSS will frame the divorce laws for Muslims. Given the prevailing political scenario, they can push anything in parliament. Any party opposing the laws will become Muslim-only party. Largescale protests will only give them opportunity to hurt us more, both physically and mentally. Resultant polarization would improve their chances of victory in 2019, even with the bad economy.

Keeping in view the verdict and the law that will be made by Parliament, the Muslim community in India will have to think of what has actually been achieved by AIMPLB’s stand in the Shah Bano case and the subsequent Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. All that the community aggressively fought for is lost. That act is now history.

What Muslims lost because of AIMPLB

In contrast, look at what was lost. The chain of events caused by the mobilization of Muslims after the Shah Bano judgement are there for all to see. This led to the immense polarization of Hindus, the like of which never seen in post-Independent India. The argument was that if Muslims can cause a SC judgement to be overturned for their religious feelings, Hindus can equally demand changes to the law of the land, for their religious feelings.

The Hindu consolidation became possible only due to the Muslim mobilization. Rajiv Gandhi had to balance the appeasement of Muslims over Shah Bano with the appeasement of Hindus, and took steps that opened the Babri Masjid issue.

The support for Hindu identity based politics went up. Hindu right wing BJP’s Lok Sabha seat tally increased from 2 to 85. A Rath yatra traversed the cow belt. From the early 90s BJP began winning states. In several states, it maintained successive unbeaten terms.

Later in the 90s, the BJP formed coalitions and came to power. Recently, the BJP became the world’s largest political party in terms of primary membership. And in a mere 30 years, the entire political space has been ceded to the right wing. Today the Head of State and Government are all from BJP – President, Vice President and Prime Minister. As of today, BJP and its allies rule 18 out of 28 states in the country.

It may be that all these things would have happened anyway. And, the stand of Muslims in Shah Bano is not the prime contributor. Co-relation and not causation. May be, but unlikely! In any case, hopefully our rehnumas /leaders learn from this and make choices that are more pragmatic. To be able to see beyond the immediate and to act accordingly is a key function of leadership.