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Dump questionnaire, says Muslim Personal Board

The Board also rejected the questionnaire of the Law Commission of India seeking public opinion in favour of the Uniform Civil Code, saying it was 'unacceptable'. It appealed to the community to boycott the questionnaire.

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Maulana Syed Arshad Madni, president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, addressing a news conference in New Delhi on Thursday. ­
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The All India Muslim Personal Board (AIMPB) – the umbrella body of clerics across different schools of thought – along with some other prominent Muslim groups, has announced that it will oppose tooth and nail any attempt of the government to interfere or amend the Muslim Personal Law or to impose the Uniform Civil Code.

They also threatened to launch countrywide programmes, on a much higher scale than the one launched 30 years ago, which had forced the then Rajiv Gandhi government to enact the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. The Act annulled a Supreme Court judgment that put the onus of maintaining a divorced women on the husband.

The Board also rejected the questionnaire of the Law Commission of India seeking public opinion in favour of the Uniform Civil Code, saying it was 'unacceptable'. It appealed to the community to boycott the questionnaire.

Attacking the government's stand on the issue of triple talaq, the outfits instead claimed that the community has reported a lesser number of divorce cases vis-a-vis other communities, especially the Hindu community, which, they said, has reported a higher divorce ratio than other communities according to Census 2011.

"The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, along with all prominent Muslim organisations like the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, Milli Council, Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadees Hind plus the schools of thought like Deoband, Barelvi, Ahle Hadith, Shia and others reject the questionnaire prepared by the Law Commission," said Wali Rahmani, the general secretary of the Board, at a news conference here on Thursday.

Rahmani was unhappy with the government's stance saying that it was deliberately causing a sense of insecurity within the minority community. "So far as the Constitution is concerned, basic importance is for fundamental rights. As per Article 25 regarding fundamental rights, each and every individual has the right to follow, practice and propagate the religion of his/her choice," he said.

He added that though there are "flaws" in personal laws governing Muslims, they are being addressed from time to time, without any external interference.

Countering the Law Commission's claim that the step was an "endeavour" to address discrimination against vulnerable groups and harmonise various cultural practices, Rehmani said that when implemented, the UCC will bring to an end to the country's diversity and pluralism and paint everyone in "one colour."

The women members of the Board also stressed that contrary to perception, Muslim Personal Law balances the rights of Muslim women and men "very well" and that there is no need for reform within it. "There is no need for any reform in the law. Triple talaq is not an issue and the government's move to impose UCC intends to snatch our religious freedom guaranteed in the Indian Constitution. This is the reason why we are fighting for our rights," Aasma Zehra, a Board member, said.

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