Director: Suparn Verma
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| https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36642456/ |
This story is based on the trial that led to the collapse of a government. It was not the sole reason for the Congress’ defeat; however, it was the nidus for other developments and the subsequent rise of the BJP to power.
That is where the film differs from the actual trial it was supposed to be based on: the 1985 Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano case, a maintenance lawsuit. Shah Bano was 62 when she was divorced, so nafkah for children did not arise. The filmmakers decided to make their heroine 35 years younger with young kids. I guess the story of a grieving postmenopausal divorcee would not sell in India. They also must have incorporated another Supreme Court case (Shayara Bano v. Union of India, 2017), which declared instant triple talaq unconstitutional.
In short, the story is about a Muslim homemaker whose lawyer husband secretly marries a second wife without her consent after 14 years of marriage. She is told to the ‘good wife’ to accept her husband’s new wife. Born to a scholar father, who taught her all the teachings of the Quran, she knows it is improper. She leaves her matrimonial home. Initially, the husband gave a measly amount, but it later stopped. She and her father filed a case at the local courts.
As the case was in progress, the husband professed the triple talaq to dissolve their marriage with a substantial amount of payment. In the husband's mind, the dissolution of the marriage, with the handing over of a lump sum, absolves him of any responsibility.
What was initially supposed to be a family dispute soon came to be pictured as a threat to the Islamic way of life. It came to be viewed as a conflict with Islamic laws governing marriage and inheritance. In the court's view, monetary support to an aggrieved ex-spouse from her former husband of sufficient means under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) should be available to all Indian citizens, irrespective of religion.
The film ends as a happy tale of perseverance and women's empowerment, with the wife promised increased alimony, but in real life, the case did not end there.
It created a lot of unease among the conservative Muslims. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board viewed the Supreme Court's decision as a threat to their existence in India. They thought these things were agreed upon at Partition and at the inception of India's Constitution.
Two lingering questions were whether triple talaq recited at one single instance is acceptable, and whether the husband's financial responsibility extended beyond the cooling period (iddat).
My years-long interfaith discussions with my dear childhood brothers, AK and FM, have taught me this. The Prophet preached that one should not make any decisions in a fit of anger. Hence, avoiding triple talaq makes more sense. There must be a cooling period before the third talaq is recited and in the presence of others. There is also the concept of sustenance (nafkah) for their dependent children.
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| https://www.bollywoodshaadis.com/articles/do-you-know-the-background- story-of-haq-starring-emraan-hashmi-and-yami-gautam-68723 |
What made the 1985 case interesting is what happened afterwards. Apprehensive about the orthodox Muslim clergy's discontent, the Congress government overturned the decision. It was viewed by the majority as minority appeasement and as indicating that the Rajeev Gandhi government was no longer secular. BJP and other Hindu politicians jumped on the bandwagon to demand the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The roar of the dissidents grew louder, and together with the lingering Bofors scandal, the Indian Congress Party lost the election for a second time in 1989.
The Shayara Bano case in 2017 declared triple talaq in one sitting to be unconstitutional and ruled it violates the fundamental rights of Muslim women.
In Malaysia, the utterance of talaq outside the confines of the syariah courts is a serious offence. Triple talaq by short messaging service (SMS) is also illegal. The Ulamaks, however, disagree with this. It is said that many Islamic schools of jurisprudence, like the Hanafi, approve of it and consider it valid. It was even accepted by Caliph Umar as a final and irrevocable divorce.
As it stands, triple talaq is illegal in India and most Muslim countries, too. Indian Mulsim women groups are welcoming of the Supreme Court’s judgments about the triple talaq, but not the clerics.
