Questions:  True or False

1. Muslim personal law in India means that Muslims can face harsher criminal penalties than Hindus, such as removing the hand of a thief.
True False
2. India has one of the largest populations of Muslims in the world.
True False
3. Getting their own country, Pakistan, ended the insecurity felt by Muslims in South Asia.
True False

4. The Indian Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
True False

 

Multiple choice.  Some of the questions may have more than one correct answer, so you have to indicate for each choice whether you think it is correct (YES) or incorrect (NO).

5. What is the Special Marriage Act of 1954?

  Yes No                                                                                                                                          
A. The act that codified and reformed all of the different personal laws.
B.  The act that offered an alternative for couples who elect not to use the personal laws.
C. The act that created a uniform civil code for all marriages after 1954.

6. The Shah Bano decision was supported by diverse political groups.  Which of the following tended to agree with the Supreme Court ruling?

  Yes No                                                                                                                                          
A. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
B. Muslim Personal Law Board 
C. Muslim Feminists 
7. What are the most contested and debated words in the Indian constitution?
  Yes No                                                                                                                                          
A. Civil
B. Secular
C. Fundamental
8. The statement in the Supreme Court's Shah Bano decision that "a common civil code will help the cause of national integration" implies a belief that:
  Yes No                                                                                                                                          
A. secularism means allowing free practice of all religions
B. secularism means declining religiosity
C. secularism means treating people of all religions the same
9. If the Indian Supreme Court had cited a U.S. precedent to support its decision in Shah Bano, which of the following might it have chosen:
  Yes No                                                                                                                                          
A. rejecting religious freedom claims by Mormon polygamists
B. holding unconstitutional divorce laws that presumed women would receive alimony
C. allowing the Amish to withdraw children from public schools after 8th grade
D. exempting churches that only appoint male leaders from laws prohibiting sex discrimination in employment
10. The Indian Supreme Court has recently heard cases brought by Hindu wives against husbands who converted to Islam and then used Muslim personal law to more easily divorce them or to marry second wives. Given their ruling in the Shah Bano case what do you predict the Supreme Court would decide:
  Yes No                                                                                                                                          
A. to prioritize the newly divorced wife's rights under Hindu law
B. to prioritize the new wife's rights under Muslim law
C. to prioritize the husband's new rights under Muslim law
11. The Shah Bano decision tried to give women equal rights to maintenance after divorce regardless of religion, yet reinforced unequal treatment of women and men, who do not receive maintenance. The following are U.S. examples of legally treating men and women differently. Which reflects similar concerns about womens' ability to support themselves on their own:
  Yes No                                                                                                                                          
A. high school military academies can be single-sex
B. strength requirements for hiring police may qualify more men than women
C. widows receive more of a deceased husband's social security benefits than widowers receive from their deceased wives' accounts

 

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