Do We Need a Bill Criminalising Instant Triple Talaq?
A debate is raging about the Bill introduced by Modi 2.0 government in Parliament in June 2019. Probably this first major effort by this government is based on the argument of giving gender justice to ‘Muslim sisters’. The Modi 1.0 government had introduced a similar Bill, but it could not become implementable as despite being passed in the Lok Sabha, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could not get it passed in the Rajya Sabha, where it did not have a majority. As such, this Bill of the Modi 1.0 government came in the backdrop of the 2017 Supreme Court verdict which regarded instant triple talaq as invalid. The government argument in the urgency of passing this Bill now is that since it could not be passed in the earlier regime, nearly 200 cases of triple talaq (instant) are reported.
First, I think there is a need to have some clarity about triple talaq and ‘instant’ triple talaq. As per the Quran, triple talaq is the method of divorcing one’s wife. It involves saying talaq once, this is followed by a period of time during which the intermediaries from both sides make efforts at reconciliation. If there is a failure in this, then the word talaq is uttered the second time. Again, after this there is a period of time in which efforts at reconciliation are made by people from both sides and if those fail, then the third and final talaq is uttered, leading to separation of the couple. As per the Quran, “Appoint two arbiters, one from his family and the other from hers, if they wish peace then God will cause their reconciliation (4.35)….Thus when they fulfill their term appointed, either take them back on equitable terms or part with them on equitable terms and take for witness two persons among you endued with justice and establish the evidence before God. (65.2).”
What is mentioned less often is that women also have the provision of annulling the marriage as per their will by uttering Khula, which is valid as per the Quran?
The corrupted clergy, which as such has no religious standing in Islam, and which has come up in the society, has conned the society on this issue. This clergy has sanctioned the practice of instant triple talaq, which is far away from what the Quran says. This practice has seeped deep down and has been the cause of torment for Muslim women.
About the Quranic practice of divorce, the triple talaq, which is a part of Muslim Personal Law, the Supreme Court stated: “The practice (triple talaq) being a component of ‘Personal Law’ has the protection of Article 25 of the constitution. Religion is a matter of faith and not of logic. It is not open to a court to accept an egalitarian approach over a practice which constitutes an integral part of religion.”
Some commentators are using the word ‘triple talaq’, in place of ‘instant triple talaq’, about which Supreme Court has given the verdict and which is also banned in many Muslim majority countries, including Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Indian apex court has already banned it, so why the Bill? The cases taking place are in violation of the law of the land and can be dealt with the existing laws, which the honourable court has mandated. Why this Bill on top priority, or why this Bill at all?
The stand of the two Modi governments about the plight of Muslim women seems to be mere shedding of crocodile tears. What are the main issues of ‘Muslim sisters’? Muslim men are subjected to lynching on mere suspicion of carrying-eating-trading in beef. Muslims can be killed with impunity while travelling in trains on the suspicion of carrying tiffin with beef in it. Now, a Muslim can also be tied to poles on the suspicion of theft and forced to say ‘Jai Shri Ram’, before killing them. We have top leaders amongst BJP who are ever ready to honour those accused of murders related to cow and beef.
The social common sense is vitiated and the so-called fringe elements of the Hindu nationalist combine now are picking up ‘Jai Shri Ram’ as a new communal weapon to intimidate and subjugate the religious minorities. The imbalance in our economy created due to the Holy cow has affected many Muslim households, affecting the very life being of our ‘Muslim sisters’ also. It’s not only the males who suffer when a rampage is on around identity issues. The women of the household also suffer. As the government is smartly giving the figures of Muslim women given instant triple talaq, can it please also give the figures of ‘Muslim sisters’ suffering due to issues like cow-beef, love jihad, ghar wapasi and violence around the issue of Ram Temple?
And when the government talks about gender justice, one, while appreciating the concern about this topic, would like to check the same with figures that show that as per 2011 data, 24 lakh women have been abandoned by their husbands! Is there a law which can take care of these erring husbands who don’t have the courtesy of going through the divorce process and escape the alimony etc.? Is there a law to remind these erring husbands about their moral responsibilities? Then why this partiality? A whole lot of Hindu women of menstruating age group are prevented to enter the Sabarimala shrine on the ground of traditions, violating the Supreme Court order, sending gender justice for a toss!
The overt concern about Muslim women runs parallel with demonising Muslim men. While fully respecting the equality of Muslim women, one will like to understand that its men and women together form a family. Demonising Muslim men, criminalising them (as in this Bill also) is no favour to ‘Muslim sisters’.
As an aside, the Modi 2.0 government has dissidents like the Janata Dal (United) on the issue, but surely in Modi 2.0, only hangers on for power will stick around, as their differences will not matter in front of the brute majority that the BJP enjoys.
(Ram Puniyani is an author and social worker. The views are personal.)
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Rs 30,000 cr loss a month: Oil companies bleed as fuel prices on hold amid global energy spike
New Delhi (PTI): About Rs 700-1,000 crore loss per day. Rs 30,000 crore every month. India's state oil companies are quietly absorbing a massive financial hit to keep petrol, diesel and LPG prices unchanged even as global energy markets face a turmoil that is bigger than all previous crises combined.
While countries from Japan to United Kingdom have raised petrol and diesel prices by up to 30 per cent since the start of the West Asia conflict, fuel prices in India continue at two-year-old levels.
The war disrupted India's import of 40 per cent of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel), 90 per cent cooking gas LPG and 65 per cent natural gas (used to generate electricity, make fertilizer, turned into CNG and piped to household kitchens for cooking), but state-owned oil companies have maintained uninterrupted fuel supplies with no rationing or shortage at any point in the last 10 weeks.
But this has come at a cost - Rs 30,000 crore under-recovery or loss every month for the three oil marketing companies - Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The under-recoveries - the gap between input costs and realised retail prices - rose sharply in March/April before tapering a bit. Daily under-recoveries during April were estimated at about Rs 18 per litre on petrol and Rs 25 per litre on diesel, translating into average losses of Rs 700-1,000 crore a day for OMCs, they said.
At a news briefing on developments in West Asia, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said prices in the international markets, on which India relies to meet 88 per cent of its oil needs, have been volatile and supplies impacted.
Crude oil prices which were around USD 70 per barrel two months ago, are now at USD 120, she said. "It has been government's endeavour to keep prices stable so far and that there is no price increase for consumers," she said. "This has hit finances of OMCs... monthly under-recoveries are of the order of Rs 30,000 crore."
She, however, refused to say if retail petrol and diesel prices will continue to hold.
"As I said, the endeavour so far has been to see that there is no price increase," she said.
The three oil marketing companies (OMCs) have worked overtime to keep the supply lines running even when demand spiked due to panic buying.
The government intervention included excise duty reductions and absorption of part of the fuel cost burden. The special additional excise duty on petrol was cut to Rs 3 per litre from Rs 13, while excise duty on diesel was reduced to zero from Rs 10 per litre.
The under-recoveries would have swelled to nearly Rs 62,500 crore had the government not cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per litre each.
The government, Sharma said, has taken a hit of Rs 14,000 crore a month in cutting the excise duty.
The Centre's effective absorption at peak crude prices was estimated at around Rs 24 per litre for petrol and Rs 30 per litre for diesel.
The February 28 strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran triggered a sharp escalation in West Asia tensions. Energy prices surged as the conflict widened and shipping risks intensified in the Strait of Hormuz - the shipping lane through which India and other countries imported crude oil, LPG and natural gas from Gulf countries. Tanker movement was disrupted.
The companies also faced additional costs from emergency crude sourcing, higher freight charges due to vessel diversions, elevated marine insurance premiums and refinery optimisation expenses. Despite these pressures, fuel and LPG supplies remained uninterrupted across the country.
The surge in crude prices and the decision to shield consumers from higher retail prices placed significant strain on OMC balance sheets and refining margins, sources said.
They added that the measures reflected a policy decision to prioritise consumer stability and economic continuity during a global energy shock.
Sources warned that a prolonged period of elevated crude prices could lead to higher working capital borrowings and force some recalibration of capital expenditure plans. However, investments linked to refining expansion, energy security infrastructure, ethanol blending, biofuels and transition fuels would continue with government backing, they said.
India's approach contrasted with measures adopted by several other economies, where fuel prices rose sharply after the conflict-driven energy shock.
Petrol prices increased by about 34 per cent in Spain, 30 per cent in Japan, Italy and Israel, 27 per cent in Germany and 22 per cent in the United Kingdom, according to estimates. Several countries also introduced rationing, conservation advisories, emergency relief packages or fuel caps.
In India, petrol prices remained Rs 94.77 per litre and diesel at Rs 87.67, with no rationing, mobility restrictions or supply disruptions, they added.
Sharma said the revenues that OMCs earn are used to buy crude oil, build infrastructure to process it into fuel and create channels that will take the fuel to consumers.
Their capex spending is all dependent on the revenues they earn, she added.
