‘My Fight Has Just Begun’, Shayara Bano On The SC Triple Talaq Judgement

October 31, 2017

(From L-R) Dr Shamsuddin Tamboli, President, Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal, Shayara Bano, Arshad Ali, Shakeel Ahmed

Leading the battle against triple talaq, Shayara Bano, 35, was in the city and addressed the media about the Supreme Court verdict and her journey.

“The court has taken a very good decision. When I filed the petition, I didn’t know that I would get justice. I didn’t know it would become so big. I feel proud and supported.

It was very challenging, but I had immense support,” she said at an event organised by the Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal, a reformist organisation founded by Hamid Dalwai, a social reformer.

Shayara Bano, from Kashipur, Uttarakhand, was the original petitioner in the case which was filed in February 2016. The verdict, making triple talaq unconstitutional, was delivered by the Supreme Court on August 22, 2017. The apex court has also instructed the government to form a law safeguarding the rights of Muslim women.

“The law is supposed to be formed within six months. Two months have already passed. It is my plea to the government to protect the rights of Muslim women. I have hope that the law will be efficient,” she adds.

Bano, an MA in Sociology, has also urged that the matter should not be used for a political agenda. “The condition of Muslim women is bad, and I would urge all, to not politicise this. Even educated Muslim women are badly affected and this affects their future. This is a social fight for our rights.”

Also present on the occasion were Bano’s brothers, Arshad Ali and Shakeel Ahmed. Speaking of the challenges they faced while fighting the case, they said, “The Muslim Personal Board attempted to pressurise us to withdraw the case. A lot of older mullahs had spread rumours that we aren’t Muslim and that we are working against Islam.

But, they do not understand that Muslim women have been oppressed since years. Many had also told me to act like a man and withdraw the case. But, we weren’t afraid of what society had to say. Our advocate, Balaji Srinivasan, did not take a single penny from us when he fought the case. We bore the fruit of our fight in August.”

Speaking of the future, Bano says, that the fight has just begun. “My fight has not stopped here. I have to spread awareness about our rights. The new generation will benefit from the law which is yet to be made. Our society won’t change soon because it is the mindset that needs to change. This will take time. There has to be development in the right direction.”