Opinion | News18 Muslim Women’s Survey Demolishes AIMPLB, Islamist Narratives on UCC

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace and seat of Islam, has embarked on a Hadith documentation project ordered by Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman. It wants to cut out the plethora of Hadith in circulation which are misused by terrorists and extremists. The Islamic world may soon have an authentic and verifiable Hadith compiled from primary sources that narrated Prophet Mohammed’s teachings; one that junks the violent and regressive bits thought to have been added over the years.

Saudi and more than 20 other Islamic nations including Pakistan have a ban on instant triple talaq.

Egypt is considering making hijab in academic institutions illegal, and Indonesia is discussing if bigoted and othering words like ‘kafir’ should be outlawed.

But in secular India, small groups like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) — which has unconstitutionally taken upon itself the role of courts for the community — continue to oppose every progressive step.

The latest flashpoint for them is the creation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) as mandated by the Indian Constitution. They do not want ‘one nation one law’. It will impinge on religious freedom, and “majoritarian morality” should not override religious freedom and rights of minority communities, they insist.

Since the Narendra Modi-led government announced that the Law Commission will hold consultations on UCC, these Muslim moral vigilante groups have been in attack mode.

This warranted a ground check.

To understand what the Muslim women think of the provisions that are likely to be at the core of a UCC, 884 reporters from the News18 network interviewed 8,035 Muslim women across 25 states and Union Territories. It was not a poll done on social media. Every participant was personally reached by a reporter.

The respondents represented a cross-section of female Muslims across different demographics. The survey participants included those 18 years and above to those above 65. Right from the illiterate to the post-graduate, the survey captured a wide educational diversity.

The participants were given the choice to remain anonymous. But 90 percent of them willingly gave their names. Each surveyor (reporter) interviewed on average only nine Muslim women for purposes of higher accuracy.

The seven key questions asked in this survey did not mention a Uniform Civil Code. These were strictly limited to only the themes that the UCC is likely to cover. The survey was conducted to better understand Muslim women’s perspectives on these issues.

The key findings demolish the narrative being built by the AIMPLB and other hawkish groups.

1. There is a very high degree of support among Muslim women on the key provisions of what most experts say will be the major tenets of any UCC.
2. Though there is slightly higher support for the provisions of the UCC among highly educated Muslim women (graduate+), the overall support is very high.
3. 67 percent of all Muslim women surveyed agreed that there should be a common law for all Indians for personal matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance. The responses were slightly higher at 68 percent for graduate+ respondents.
4. 76 percent of all Muslim women (graduate+: 79 percent) disagree with polygamy and say that Muslim men should not have the right to marry 4 women.
5. The highest support from women is on the question of equal rights of succession and inheritance of property irrespective of gender (82 percent overall; 86 percent graduate+)
6. 74 percent of all respondents agree that divorced couples should be allowed to remarry without any restriction.
7. Though there was high agreement on the question of adoption, the percentage of Muslim women agreeing that adoption should be allowed regardless of religion was much lower than the other questions asked in the survey (all: 65 percent; graduate+: 69 percent).
8. 69 percent of all respondents (73 percent graduate+) agree that all Indians who have attained the age of majority should be free to will away their property as they please.
9. There is very high support for raising the minimum age for marriage for both men and women to 21. 79 percent of all Muslim women supported increasing the minimum age and 82 percent of graduate+ women agreed.

The findings of this painstakingly done News18 network survey strongly indicates a couple of things.

First, groups and individuals like AIMPLB do not represent the voice of ordinary Muslims, particularly women. These self-appointed brokers between the divinity and the people had long served talaq to modern realities and aspirations of the community. They perpetuate their relevance using bluff and intimidation.

Second, there are external and internal forces which are highly active in keeping the 20-crore Muslim community in India on the boil. It serves their own political purpose and seldom has anything to do with the faith.

British colonisers widened the fault line between Hindus and Muslims to rule and eventually engineered partition. Today’s external forces hope to, one day, bleed and balkanise India by creating Muslim disaffection where there is none among ordinary citizens.

Then there is the enemy within. Indian political parties which oppose the UCC either deliberately or unwittingly widen the rift in the hope of Muslim votes. They had done nothing for Muslims when they were in power. They walk with a matchbox looking for gunpowder to use against Narendra Modi, even if it means burning down the nation.

This is what makes this News18 survey so insightful and important.

Abhijit Majumder is a senior journalist. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.