Mumbai: Thousands of Muslim women, most of them in 'burqa' staged a silent protest march at Azad Maidan here on Saturday, demanding withdrawal of the bill banning 'Triple Talaq' passed by Lok Sabha last December.
Organised by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board's (AIMPLB) Women Wing, and described as the "first, exclusive Muslim women's protest rejecting the Bill and supporting the Sharia Laws" it elicited huge response from Muslim women across the country.
Though the march was silent, the women carried placards loudly proclaiming their demands with slogans opposing the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017,and expressing their support to protect the Shariah.
"Our demand is very clear. Take back the Triple Talaq Bill. It is anti-women, anti-gender justice, anti-children, will destroy families, push Muslim husbands into jail and damage the Muslim society," said AIMPLB Women Wing President Asma Zehra.
She further alleged that the Triple Talaq Bill not only criminalises Talaq, but moves a step towards the Uniform Civil Code which the RSS wants to impose.
"The Indian Constitution has granted the people the freedom to practice their religion but this government wants to deprive the citizens of their constitutional right," she added.
AIMPLB executive member Monisa B. Abidi said that instead of bringing in a law that criminalises 'Triple Talaq', the government should have asked the community to bring in changes and internal reforms.
Jamat-e-Islami Hind's Arshia Shakeel pointed out that the Islam is "a complete way of life, Muslims are blessed by Sharaih Law which is a complete code in individual and social matters and the community is satisfied with it.
Lawyer Munawwarai Alware said Muslim women "strongly favour Shariah Laws" and cannot be cheated with hollow slogans.
Other prominent women who addressed the gathering included AIMPLB's Sumaya Sajjad Nomani, Zakiya M. Farid Shaikh, Ishrath Shahabuddin Shaikh, Saleha Sohel, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamat's Aaeen Raza, SNDT University's Prof Shabana Khan, Shia Jamaat's Farah Jafri, and Moballigha Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat's Salma Rizvi.
Procession coordinator and media in-charge Maulana Burhanuddin Qasmi said around 200,000 women from all over India joined the protest while convenor Salamat Ullah Nadvi said that they highlighted the fact that the Bill, instead of protecting Muslim women, would deprive them of even the rights which they are currently entitled to and be detrimental to their interests.
Various political parties like AIMIM and Muslim leaders from different parties have supported the Muslim women's demands raised in today's protest.
"It is very rare that so many thousands of women from different sects in the Muslim community have joined together to protest against this Bill," said Congress legislator and ex-minister Naseem Khan.
Later, a delegation of women leaders met Governor C. V. Rao and submitted a memorandum to be forwarded to the President, Prime Minister and others at the centre, Maulana Qasmi said.
The gathering adopted four resolutions:
"1. We strongly oppose the 'Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017' and demand that the government must take it back,
- We support Muslim Personal Law and will not tolerate any changes in the Muslim Personal Law matters.
- We oppose all moves to bring in Uniform Civil Code (UCC), in India.
- 99 per cent Muslim women have full faith in the leadership of All India Muslim Personal Law Board."
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Mumbai, Aug 13 (PTI): Stock markets rebounded on Wednesday with benchmark Sensex closing higher by 304 points on buying in metal, auto and pharma shares as steady US inflation data propelled a sharp rally in global markets.
The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 304.32 points or 0.38 per cent to settle at 80,539.91. During the day, it jumped 448.15 points or 0.55 per cent to 80,683.74.
The 50-share NSE Nifty edged up by 131.95 points or 0.54 per cent to 24,619.35.
Analysts said retail inflation slowing to an 8-year low of 1.55 per cent in July led to the positive trend in domestic equities.
"Indian equities experienced a broad-based optimism as CPI hit an eight-year low, boosting hopes for a revival in discretionary spending, led by autos and metals. Globally, sentiment improved on the extension of China’s tariff deadline and easing oil prices.
"Despite uncertainties around Trump’s trade stance and global risks, India’s growth-inflation dynamics remain favourable for FY26 with risk to marginal downgrade based on tariff updates. India looks forward to the Trump-Putin meet dated 15th August," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
Among Sensex firms, Bharat Electronics, Eternal, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Motors and Power Grid were the gainers.
However, Adani Ports, ITC, UltraTech Cement and Titan were among the laggards.
Retail inflation slowed to an 8-year low of 1.55 per cent in July, falling below the Reserve Bank's comfort zone for the first time since January 2019, helped by subdued prices of food items, according to government data released on Tuesday.
"Indian equities advanced on Wednesday, buoyed by easing domestic retail inflation, positive global cues, and renewed hopes of a US Federal Reserve rate cut, Gaurav Garg, Analyst, Lemonn Markets Desk, said.
The BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.58 per cent and midcap index went up by 0.56 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, healthcare jumped 1.76 per cent, metal (1.22 per cent), auto (1.18 per cent), consumer discretionary (0.96 per cent), industrials (0.70 per cent) and financial services (0.45 per cent).
Oil & Gas and FMCG were the laggards.
Shares of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd spurted by nearly 8 per cent, emerging as lead gainer among Nifty50 shares after the healthcare services provider reported a 42 per cent jump in profit after tax to Rs 433 crore in the June quarter.
Paytm shares closed higher by 3 per cent as Paytm Payments Services received the Reserve Bank of India's nod to operate as an online payment aggregator.
As many as 2,230 stocks advanced while 1,861 declined and 155 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Among Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled sharply higher. European markets were trading in the green.
The US markets ended significantly higher on Tuesday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.36 per cent to USD 65.88 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,398.80 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. Sensex dropped 368.49 points or 0.46 per cent to settle at 80,235.59 while Nifty went lower by 97.65 points or 0.40 per cent to 24,487.40 on Tuesday.