Over 300 citizens, including women’s rights activists, filmmakers, playwrights, social reformists, artistes, academics, and others, have endorsed a petition calling for a legal ban on Muslim polygamy. The signatories referred to a study by the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), which found that more than 80% of women in Muslim polygamous marriages want polygamy to be made a criminal offence for Muslim men. While the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita criminalises polygamy, Indian Muslim men are exempt under personal laws.
Study Highlights Widespread Harm
The petition notes that BMMA’s research, based on interviews with 2,500 Muslim women across seven states, shows polygamy inflicts economic injustice, emotional trauma, and social insecurity on women and children. The report revealed that 85% of Muslim women surveyed want polygamy abolished, and 87% want it criminalised.
Though religious laws require men to seek consent from first wives before remarrying, 79% of first wives said they were never informed about their husband’s second marriage, and 88% said their consent was not sought. Over 50% of first wives were abandoned after the second marriage, 36% received no financial support, and nearly 47% were forced to return to their parental homes due to destitution. Around 93% of women surveyed also demanded a complete ban on child marriage.
Petitioners Cite Structural Injustice
The petition, drafted by Javed Anand and Feroze Mithiborwala of Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy and Shamsuddin Tamboli of Muslim Satyashodak Mandal, argued that polygamy today is a system of structural injustice rather than a religious or cultural obligation. Women across class and region experience polygamy as violence, exploitation, and economic dispossession, leaving them and their children vulnerable and without rights.
Notable Signatories Support Reform
Among the signatories are Zakia Soman and Noorjehan Safia Niyaz, co-founders of BMMA; environment activist Medha Patkar; filmmakers Saeed Mirza and Anand Parwardhan; playwright Feroze Abbas Khan; rationalist Hamid Dhabholkar; author Zeenat S Ali; dancer Mallika Sarabai; and campaigner against female genital mutilation, Masooma Ranalvi. Other signatories include social activists Baba Adhav, Tushar Gandhi, Raosaheb Kasbe, Dr Yashwant Manohar, Vibhuti Patel, Avinash Patil, Kavita Srivastava, Nikhat Azmi, Dr Suresh Khopde, Subhash Ware, Hasina Khan, Sabah Khan, Sandhya Gokhale, Benazeer Tamboli, Vinod Sirsat, Chayanika Shah, Pratima Joshi, Sultan Shaheen, Arshad Alam, and Ashok Dhiware.
Call for Equality and Constitutional Morality
The activists emphasised that polygamy denies Muslim women equality before law, as it is banned for all other communities in India. They said personal law cannot override Articles 14, 15, and 21 of the Constitution, which guarantee equality, dignity, and personal liberty. Religious freedom, they argued, cannot be used as a shield for exploitation.
Demands for Legal Measures and Support Systems
The petition calls on state governments and parliament to criminalise Muslim polygamy under Section 82 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita, providing imprisonment up to seven years. It also demands mandatory registration of all marriages, guaranteed maintenance, inheritance, and housing rights for women and children abandoned under polygamous arrangements, expanded legal aid, crisis shelters, counselling, economic support, and community-led awareness programmes.
Inclusive Call to Action
The signatories described the petition as rooted in constitutional morality, women’s rights, and ethical principles of justice and equality. They urged Muslim organisations, ulema, women’s collectives, student and workers’ unions, civil society networks, journalists, lawyers, and academics to endorse the petition and support a legal ban on polygamy in India.
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