Shia board mulls social boycott of wife deserters

LUCKNOW: The All India Shia Personal Law Board (AISPLB) has come up with a set of deterrents to counter the community’s marked apathy towards gender issues, particularly rising cases of violence against women and frivolous divorces.
To be cleared formally at the AISPLB general body meeting on Sunday, the reformative measures will include a three-tier redressal system, a helpline for the aggrieved party, reference to the ‘Majlis-e-Aala-e-Dini’ (expert panel of ulema) to probe charges and free legal aid by ‘vakla’ (lawyers’ committee), if the victim’s allegations are proved correct.
The board will also give its nod to social boycott of men accused of deserting their wives on without any plausible reason for second, third and fourth nikah. This would mean a total boycott of the family. Even funerals will go unattended by others, board’s spokesman Yasoob Abbas said.
‘‘Similar restriction will also apply to those who opt for infanticide and selective termination of pregnancy to rule out giving birth to a girl child. No one has a right to play God and eliminate a life in the making due to gender bias. The AISPLB strongly condemns it,’’ said AISPLB president Maulana Mirza Mohammad Athar.
The proposal, he added, would come in force after the general body formally passes the resolution on Sunday, the last day of the annual convention.
‘‘A noticeable spurt in the divorce rate has prompted us to take such a step. Also, a survey by the Board came up with startling finding that every fourth marriage was either ending in a divorce or heading towards irreconcilable differences,’’ Abbas told TOI.
In majority of such cases, women were being victimized either for dowry or because the husband wanted the wife off so that he could start a fresh relationship.