Founder of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, social activist
Zakia Soman has waged many a legal battle against the orthodox Muslim clergy seeking equality for Muslim women in social, economic and religious affairs.
Soman, who fought against the practice of triple talaq and is also a vocal proponent of the Uniform Civil Code discusses the Supreme Court verdict of July 10, 2024 delivered by the two-judge bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Augustne George Masih that ruled that divorced Muslim women can seek maintenance from their husbands under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
"So far, we have been told that we will not give you (legal justice) because Sharia doesn't require us to give (justice to) you (divorced women). They (the orthodox Muslims in India) have used the name of Sharia to deny Muslim women alimony rights. That is now being rendered immaterial," Soman tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com.