We had some discussion on this subject before. What do the readers think? Will an Assamese Muslim woman be able to shake the muslim male domination? I tequest the Muslim women on the net to share their thoughts.
Thanks,
Dilip Deka
Historic verdict for Muslim women
By A Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, Nov 11 � For 33-year-old frail looking Zeenat Fatema Rashid, a teacher in Maligaon Central School here, it took over 12 years to win only a part of her legal battle demanding maintenance from her husband who had discarded her and challenging the right of Muslim males to divorce their wife at their whim or caprice under the provisions of Muslim Personal Law (Shariat). On an August morning in the year 1990, then 23-year-old Zeenat Fatema Rashid along with her infant son, Zeeshan, arrived at her father�s home in the heart of the city hub after being discarded by her husband. She had got married to Iqbal Anwar, an employee of the State Forest Department in December, 1987 under Muslim rites. Their son Zeeshan was born out of the wedlock.
However, Zeenat�s marriage was periled as she had to leave her husband�s place after failing to bear the trauma at her in-laws place any longer. After arrival at her father�s home, her tryst with a saga of court battle began. The legal battle spilled from the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Guwahati where she filed her first petition on August 29, 1990 seeking maintenance from her husband, to the Supreme Court after travelling through the Sessions Court, the High Court and also the family court.All her petitions of different sorts filed in different courts were focused on demanding maintenance from her husband and challenging the Muslim males right to divorce their wife by just pronouncing the triple talaq at their whim or caprice and bigamy allegation against her husband who despite being a government sergation against her husband who despite being a government servant got married for second time during pendency of case relating to divorce of his first wife Zeenat.
The bigamy case is in fact still pending in the family court here although the Supreme Court in an order dated August 14 last upheld an earlier judgement of the Magistrate at Guwahati who granted maintenance in favour of Zeenat, although as per Muslim Personal Law a divorced Muslim woman is not supposed to get maintenance allowance from her husband. The silver lining in the Supreme Court judgement is that it did not strike down the historic ruling of Gauhati High Court given in the case between Iqbal Anwar and Zeenat Fatema Rashid that on May 5, 1993 wherein the court set aside her divorce and ruled that a Muslim husband cannot divorce his wife at his whim or caprice and that the divorce must be preceded by a predivorce counselling to arrive at a settlement.
Although she has won part of her battle after the Supreme Court verdict in her case, Zeenat laments, �The bigamy case is still pending against her husband in the family court. I was never given talaq by my husband and the talaq nama which my husband produced in court during the legal battle was false and fabricated and prepared in collusion with a local Quazi and two witnesses.� �I am not after maintenance allowance from my husband, but want to be recognised by him as the only wife. Since I haven�t been divorced, there is no validity of his second marriage,� she says.
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