Equal Citizenship Rights: End of Gender Discrimination, Women’s Groups in solidarity with Shayara Bano

Venue: ISI, Lodhi Road. New Delhi

Date: 23.04.2016

Time: 3:00pm to 6:00pm

 

Bebaak Collective (Voices of the fearless) cordially invites you all to the panel discussion that will (re)open the debates around Muslim Personal Laws on 23rd April in New Delhi. The debates around Muslim Personal Laws have been simmering in Indian women’s movement since Shah Bano’s petition in 1984 and we have been time and again challenged by the conservative religious forces of the community. It is also well known that State has always prioritises the religious voices of the community and thwarts the aspirations of hundreds of Muslim women who negotiates with the fundamentalism of the community; we take this opportunity to critique State and the blinkers it puts on while negating the citizenship rights of Muslim women as mandated in the Indian Constitution. This meeting is called to show solidarity and extend support to Shayara Bano who has shown enormous courage by filing a petition in the apex court of India challenging the constitutionality of triple talaq. This meeting also aims to push the debate ahead of triple talaq and politicize the much neglected issues of matrimonial rights and social security of Muslim women, the diverse living realities of Muslim women across class and also address the precarious location of women as rights bearing individuals versus bearers of culture, religion and tradition.

We as Bebaak Collective (Voices of the fearless) firmly believe that eliminating triple talaq in the quest for justice is a task half done unless and until we deliberate on the gender just laws which will challenge all the gender discriminatory aspects of Personal Laws of all religion and evoke the equal citizenship rights of women are traditionally treated as ‘second class’ citizens. It is in that direction, we want to make a move and earnestly hope to have support of all like minded people and democratic voices from across the communities. Bebaak Collective is an autonomous women’s group working with other women’s groups across states for the rights of Muslim women within the Constitutional framework of our country.

On this occasion we will also screen a small documentary film “Tiryaaq” which captures the individual and political struggles of Muslim women in our country.

Synopsis of the movie: Tiryaaq, or antidote, is that which dilutes poison. Tiryaaq, the film, documents journeys. Journeys of marginalisations, of struggles, of political understandings and of political organising/collectivisation led by Muslim women from different parts of India. These journeys help to unravel the insidious functionings of caste patriarchy and religious fundamentalism, as well as the countless struggles of Muslim women bound within the contours of nation, community and family. Journeys that are, struggles that form, and understandings that frame

antidotes to resurgent fascism.

34 minutes/ Hindi with English subtitles/ 2015-16/ India

Speakers of the panel:

Shayara Bano fighting against constitutionality of triple talaq in Supreme Court of India.

Mansooma Ranalvi who is an well known activist fighting against female genital mutiliation among Bohra Muslim women.

Uma Chakravarti is a renowned historian and has written profusely about the gender history.

Hasina Khan who is well known women’s activist associated with Indian women’s movement for over two decades and fighting for equal citizenship rights of the Muslim women in our country.

 

Bebaak Collective