Morgan Institute for Human Rights

Selections from the Memorandum of the Joint Women’s Programme:

If this new bill becomes a reality, no Muslim woman will have redressal from the courts—which she has hitherto been entitled to.  This bill is unconstitutional and is a retrogressive step in the sphere of women’s development….The bill is a violation of the shariat [Muslim law]…. The bill is unconstitutional as it violates Article 14 of the constitution that guarantees equal protection to all before the law….  The bill is a setback to the goal of achieving a uniform civil code.  It also retrogrades our endeavor towards national integration as it tends to discriminate between Muslim women and women of other communities and therefore the Muslim community from other communities. (Engineer 235-6)