People's Democracy

  AIDWA Condemns Deoband  Fatwa

Subhashini Ali, president and Sudha Sundararaman, general secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) have issued the following statement on June 28.

THE AIDWA strongly condemns the pronouncement of a fatwa by the Darul Uloom at Deoband and the support extended to the fatwa by the Muslim Personal Law Board in the Imrana case. Through this most retrograde fatwa a rape victim is further punished by annulment of her marriage. This is a blatant attack on the basic human rights of Imrana and her husband, and in the name of religion such an assault on a couple’s constitutional rights cannot be countenanced.

The plight of this poor Muslim woman and her five children highlights the reality that victims of gender violence like Imrana are doubly traumatised and victimised in the name of caste based or communalised fatwas. It is indeed barbaric that instead of ensuring that severe action is taken against the rapist who has committed such an unpardonable crime, the so-called learned men are interpreting customary religious laws and pronouncing judgment which not only go against the law but also against all humanitarian norms.

The administration should ensure the most stringent action against the father-in-law and also enable the couple to live together. The AIDWA along with other women’s organisations and concerned individuals will be holding a demonstration in Muzaffarnagar on June 30, 2005 to condemn the barbaric fatwa and to demand that Imrana and Ali Mohammad should be enabled to resume their life together without fear of violence.(INN)