Society

Bibi No. 2: Double Impunity

Bigamy in the name of Muslim Personal Law can be challenged in court. But who complains?

Advertisement

Bibi No. 2: Double Impunity
info_icon

When Anuradha Bali became Chander Mohan's wife last December, she joined approximately five million Indian women married to an already married man. Since multiple marriages in India are only permitted under the Muslim Personal Law, Bali and Mohan became the latest in a long line of people converting to Islam solely to make use of this clause—changing their names to Chand Mohammed and Fiza in the bargain.

The repercussions were not long in coming. Chand was sacked from the post of deputy chief minister of Haryana, the Bishnoi community declared him an outcaste, and his father—three-time Haryana CM Bhajan Lal—disowned him. At this dark hour, a vague hand of support came from Mufti Ahsan Kasmi, deputy in-charge of the fatwa department of Dar-ul-Uloom, Deoband. "Nikaah (marriage) after converting to Islam is legal under Shariah," he declared. But it was hardly a ringing endorsement—not surprising when you consider Kasmi had gone on record as recently as July 2008 saying, "conversion of a woman to Islam for the purpose of marrying someone from the faith is illegal and against Shariah".

Advertisement

info_icon


Queenie and Raja Dhody converted to Islam to get married

As the mufti's contradictory stances indicate, converting to Islam for the sake of marriage is a controversial issue among Muslims. Community leaders were embarrassed by the Chand-Fiza show that dominated the electronic and news media, and felt that an extremely sensitive issue was being sensationalised. Nevertheless, they were silent, hoping it would go the way of other such scandals. But that was not to be.

On January 28, Chand disappeared and then resurfaced a bit later, claiming he still loved and missed his first wife and children. Within a couple of days, Fiza was on the offensive, declaring she'd been "trapped, used, and dumped"; she went to the media with private details of their romance.

This final twist in the media spectacle was one step too far for the Muslim community leaders, and it forced them to take a public stance. "We condemn this. We have always condemned such cases," says Mujtaba Farooq, the political affairs secretary of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. "Second marriages, even if they happen within Islam, are not done lightly. And when people (outside the faith) use Islam in this manner, they make fools out of themselves and a joke out of Islam."

Advertisement

info_icon


Boney Kapoor married Sridevi and divorced his wife later

For Dr Sayeed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, spokesperson of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, such cases reflect a failure of society at large, and Islam shouldn't be blamed for allowing them to happen. "There are many cases of second marriage by those already married," he says, "but they don't come to light because they happen in poor and rural areas, and the first wife either doesn't complain or is intimidated into silence. In cases where people fear legal hassles, they convert and use the Muslim Personal Law to save themselves." Moreover, adds Ilyas, because under Islamic law a man's faith is a matter only between him and god, a cleric has no authority to question why he is converting, so there is little the ulema can do to stop this abuse.

Sociologist Imtiaz Ahmad says Hindu society has an old tradition of men having more than one wife, "especially in border areas, which have a long history of martial communities where you inevitably had more women than men—since men were killed in battles—and thus more polygamy." But today, he says, "there's a motivation to have more converts, hence the ulema don't ask questions."

Professor Haseena Hashia who teaches Gender Geography at Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, and is a member of the Muslim Personal Law Board, however, holds that "the ulema do have a role to play. They can't just abdicate responsibility. If there is to be a conversion, then Islamic principles should be explained. You can't just have somebody like Hema Malini declaring 'Pyaar aur jung mein sab jayaz hai' (All's fair in love and war) and converting to Islam simply so she can be Dharmendra's second wife. " For Hashia, it is all the more galling that Fiza, who was the assistant solicitor general of Haryana, has "abused" the spirit of law in this manner.

One welcome fallout of the Chand-Fiza case is that it might force social and religious authorities to seriously confront the legal-moral confusion surrounding multiple marriages in India. And there is a plethora of views out there, ranging from an ingrained conservatism to a reformist spirit, cautious or otherwise.

According to Farooq, the laws "bind people to something (monogamy) not natural to human nature. This is why such cases happen. The legal system should take this into consideration." For Ilyas, the issue was settled by the 1995 Sarla Mudgal case, in which the Supreme Court held any second marriage solemnised after conversion while the first marriage was existent to be void. Supreme Court lawyer Pinky Anand points to wider implications. "In the light of the Sarla Mudgal judgement, Chand can be prosecuted for bigamy. But that's not the end. The Supreme Court judgement envisioned a uniform civil code that would ban the practice of second marriage by Muslims or non-Muslims."

The Muslim Personal Law has been up for internal debate and there is a view that the community should be left to its own incremental pace of reforms. Anand's interpretation, less isolationist, is certainly not one the ulema would be rushing to accept. So, despite the nasty, brutish and short marriage of Chand and Fiza, it may not be the last of the kind.

Tags

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement