Days after the Madras High Court restrained Kazis from issuing certificates on triple talaq, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi has said that Muslims should stand up for their culture like the Tamils fought for jallikattu.
"In Tamil Nadu, people protested in lakhs to fight for their tradition. Modi had to bow in front of them. Are we any less than them? We also have our own culture. We will marry and divorce the way we want to. Nobody should direct us what we should do," said Owaisi, as reported by India Today, referring to the call for a Uniform Civil Code, and the case over triple talaq.
But Owaisi’s views on the matter are not supported by the entire Muslim community, especially Muslim women.
Speaking to The News Minute, Bader Sayeed, who had filed a PIL against triple talaq at the Madras High Court, said, “Triple talaq is not our culture, it is far from it. How can talaq be a tradition?”
She added: “It is ruining a woman’s life and it can never be compared to jallikattu. The sport is our culture and tradition no doubt, but talaq cannot be.”
Asked about Muslim groups calling certificates given by Kazis an ‘opinion’, she said, “The certificates clearly say, “This certifies,” then how can it be an opinion? However, I would not want to comment anymore about it as the matter is in the court,” she said.
On January 11, the Madras High Court ordered that Kazis have no power to render the marriage of Muslims invalid after the husband utters ‘talaq’ thrice, and no certificates must be issued by them.
However, opposition to triple talaq does not mean that people are in support of the Universal Civil Code. Earlier in an interview with The News Minute, Bader Sayeed had said, “Do you think that it is possible to bring Uniform Civil Code with so many states and religions? I am only concerned about gender justice.”