The All Indian Muslim Personal Law Board wants the Shariat Application (Muslim Personal Law) Act of 1937 to be applied to cases relating to personal law.

The act says that in a Muslim marriage, divorce, inheritance and succession, woman's property and will, the Shariat should be followed.

"If Muslims and other religious minorities are given the freedom to practice their religion in personal matters as guaranteed in the Constitution, it would strengthen unity," board secretary Rahim Qureshi told a news meet here Thursday.

The board is holding its 16th conclave here from June 21 and will voice a demand that Muslim law be protected from parallel legislation or judgments by courts.

Around 201 members from all over the country will attend the three-day conference that will also discuss the implications of a judgement around a month ago that a Muslim divorce should be ratified in a court for legal sanction.

The Aurangabad bench of the Mumbai High Court gave the verdict.

"Muslims feel the rules of Shariat governing their personal life are an integral part of their religion and that is why they have been protesting against any move to abrogate or change the Muslim personal law," Qureshi said.

He pointed out that Naga and Mizo insurgents gave up arms only when they were assured through an act of Parliament that there would be no interference in their personal laws, traditions and customs. "They were even allowed to follow their own criminal justice system."

The Muslim board, which was formed in 1972 to protect the community's law, will also elect a new president at the Hyderabad conclave. The post fell vacant after the death of eminent religious scholar Maulana Mujahidul Islam Qasmi in April.

The election by the board's general council has always been unanimous and a smooth affair. The board will also elect 30 member executives.

The meet is likely to pass a resolution on the largely anti-Muslim sectarian violence in Gujarat, where about 950 people have been killed since February-end.

A nine-member delegation, which visited the state, will submit its report to the board. "The discussion on Gujarat will be of a general nature," Qureshi said.

A board committee to fight the legal battle for the Babri mosque site in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, will also brief the meeting about the latest status of the case and evidence produced before the court.

Hindu zealots tore down the 16th-century mosque in 1992 in order to build a temple there to mark the birthplace of warrior god Ram.

Our Comments

Why characterize Lord Rama as a warrior God? Hindus consider Lord Rama to be the ideal human avarar of Lord Vishnu - why not say "ideal" personification of Lord Vishnu? Is it because the author want to imply that Hindus are war mongers?