In a bizarre justification, the former Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari has backed the idea of setting up of the Shariat courts in every district of the country. This comes days after the All India Muslim Personal Law Board demanded Sharia Courts in every district of India.
People are confusing social practices with legal system. Our law recognizes that each community can have own rules. Personal law in India covers- marriage, divorce, adoption & inheritance. Each community has a right to practice its own personal law: Hamid Ansari on Sharia Courts pic.twitter.com/7GukYMnMIX
— ANI (@ANI) July 12, 2018
Speaking to the media, Ansari was of the opinion that each community has the right to practice its own personal law. He said, “People are confusing social practices with the legal system. Our law recognizes that each community can have own rules. Personal laws in India covers marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance. Each community has a right to practice its own personal law.”
The Former Vice President’s statements come as a shocker as the Supreme Court has itself barred the Shariat courts from running parallel justice system in the country. Ansari is now backing the same proposal, which was initiated by the controversial All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB). The AIMPLB’s idea to set up Shariat courts has now met with severe opposition from different sections of the society.
This is not the first time for Hamid Ansari to be a part of a controversy, as recently he had backed the students of the Aligarh Muslim University for protesting against the removal of the portrait of Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah. It is utterly shocking to see that Hamid Ansari is backing the religious bodies like AIMPLB, which had sought to back the inhuman practices of Triple Talaq and Nikah Halah.
Social Media too was quick to react. While some said that every time Hamid Ansari speaks, he vindicates Narendra Modi’s speech about him:
Every time #HamidAnsari speaks – he vindicates @narendramodi‘s assessment of him. #HinduPakistanComment #ShashiTharoor
— GhoseSpot (@SandipGhose) July 12, 2018
Delivering farewell speech for Hamid Ansari in RS, Modi had clearly said -free from obligations of constitutional office, you’ll now be able to voice your opinion (inclinations) more openly.
& here he is, batting for sharia courts & parallel judiciary! Modi had judged him right https://t.co/F534sDQz3L
— Keertivardhan Joshi (@KeertiJoshi) July 12, 2018
Another recalled the words spoken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Ansari’s farewell.
“A major portion of your (Ansari’s) career as a diplomat was associated with West Asia. You spent several years of your life within such confines, atmosphere, thought process, debates and amidst such people,” – PM Modi on the ocassion of Hamid Ansari’s farewell https://t.co/Zwj8VTHJzv
— नंदिता ठाकुर (@nanditathhakur) July 12, 2018
Some like Prof Anand Ranganathan simply marvelled at how an ex-Vice President of India could support barbaric practices in the name of religion.
SHOCKED that an ex-Vice President would say this.
If the opposing litigants accept, willingly, a fatwa that the State finds repugnant or unjust – like, for example, stoning or lashing as punishments – is not a modern secular Republic duty-bound to intervene? It should be. pic.twitter.com/jimQWoIDlM
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) July 12, 2018
Hamid Ansari is not new to controversies. He earlier had issued a statement saying he is feeling insecure and uneasy as a citizen of the country. His statements were condemned by all sections of the society. Recently, post his retirement, he was seen in a programme organized militant Islamic organization Popular Front of India (PFI) which has been accused by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) of being involved in the controversial ‘love jihad’ cases in Kerala.
