Muslim women’s body that backed Modi govt on triple talaq slams ‘inaction’ on lynchings

Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Aandolan asks where's sabka vishwas, says those sitting in govt must understand that Muslim women also get impacted by lynchings.

A meeting of the BMMA. | BMMA | Facebook

New Delhi: A leading national Muslim women’s group, which had backed the Modi government’s decision to bring in a law banning triple talaq, has now questioned the government’s inaction in the face of lynchings and mob violence against Muslims.

In the backdrop of the most recent killing of Tabrez Ansari, 24, in Jharkhand, the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Aandolan (BMMA) has demanded “clear-cut action on the ground” to prevent communal violence against Muslims in the country.

In a statement released Monday, the BMMA, which was one of the petitioners in the 2017 triple talaq case, pointed out that it had supported the Modi government’s “efforts to ensure gender equality for Muslim women” despite accusations that it was “playing into the hands of the right-wing majoritarian government”.

It goes on to add that it is anguished that instead of ensuring more inclusivity, the situation for the Muslim community has only worsened in the country.

“The Prime Minister has talked about gaining sabka vishwas (everybody’s trust) but sadly there is no change in violence and lynchings by the vigilante groups,” the statement reads. “We hope those sitting in the government understand that Muslim women also get impacted by these lynchings.

“We as Muslim women also worry about our own brothers, fathers and other male members of our family in the face of vigilante violence,” it adds.

The BJP government has often been accused of showing sympathy for Muslim women by seeking to criminalise the practice of triple talaq on one hand, and remaining mute when in the face of growing mob violence against the community in general.

“Muslim women are being forced to choose between their individual rights as women and the survival and well-being of the community guaranteed by the Constitution. Is that even a choice that she has to be subjected to?” the BMMA has asked.

Prominent backer of govt on triple talaq

In the past, the BMMA has often been one of the lone Muslim groups to throw its weight behind the BJP government’s push for criminalisation of triple talaq, even as opposition parties such as the Congress, Trinamool Congress, the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Muslim groups such as the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) have vociferously criticised it as a way of targeting the Muslim community.

The BMMA had even questioned the Congress’ inaction over the plight of Muslim women for its own political gains.

Maintaining this position, the group has now said, “On the one hand, there has been the complete failure of the larger community to address it in the last seven decades. And now there is the added dimension of open hatred and exclusion of the community in the face of state apathy.

“While we as Muslim women will continue to fight for gender justice, we also stand up to hold the state accountable in its Constitutional obligation to uphold peace, justice, harmony and to end of the politics of hate and violence,” the statement adds.