NEW DELHI: A Delhi Minorities Commission survey has found there is no prevalence of polygamy and instant triple talaq in North-East Delhi -- the most populous district which also houses the highest number of Muslims at 29.34 per cent in the national capital.
Triple talaq is a social evil but it ails a small percentage of the community, said Delhi Minorities Commission chairperson Zafarul Islam Khan while releasing the report Status of Muslim Women in North East Delhi 2020: Socio-Economic and Educational Study which has sampled 600 households from 15 areas in the district. These areas included Babarpur, Baqiabad, Jafarabad, Janta Colony, Jiwanpur, Karawal Nagar, Khajoori Khas, Khanpur Dhani, Mandauli, Mirpur Turk, Mustafabad, Sadatpur Gujran, Seelampur and Ziauddinpur.
"Instant triple talaq is a social evil which was being practiced by an unscrupulous minority among the Muslim community. People found to be practicing instant triple talaq generally come from low economic backgrounds. The survey, which was conducted on the poorest of poor women, showed that the occurrence of instant triple talaq is negligible in the community. The issue certainly did not merit the government's involvement," Khan said.
On August 22, 2017, instant triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme court and on July 30, 2019, the parliament declared the practice a criminal offence.
As a part of the survey, women between the age group of 18-72 years were interviewed. Not one interviewee was in a polygamous marriage which showed that the perception that polygmy exists among Muslims is wrong, said the report.
There was not a single case of divorce either in the respondents' respective areas, according to the report. While 66.3 per cent of the interviewees were married, 20.3 per cent were unmarried and around 13 per cent had lost their husbands.
All the interviewees held the view that polygamy was 'bad'. While 93 per cent of the women were aware of the court's verdict on the practice of triple talaq and welcomed the verdict, a small percentage of women said "whatever the court decision, whatever is followed in the culture will continue".
Over 70 per cent of the respondents said they felt the socio-economic condition of women have improved in the areas over the years while over 25 per cent of the women said nothing had changed. Of the respondents, 81 per cent were homemakers with unemployment being high among Muslim women in the area, 13 per cent students, 4 per cent salaried employees in non-government organisations, 0.7 per cent casual labourers and 1 per cent were unemployed but in search of work. Among those who were salaried, 34 percent earned around Rs 3,000 per month -- significantly below the minimum wages in the capital. Many households continued to live in impoverished conditions, the report said.
A profiling of the households showed that there was no female child in 410 households.
Over 36 per cent of the women in the survey said they could neither read nor write with the major impediments in formal education being financial problems, girls' education not considered a priority, and family not allowing them to access education.
A large section of those who fell sick -- over 80 per cent -- turned to government hospitals when they needed to access healthcare services. At least 11 per cent of those who accessed healthcare reported facing discrimination on the grounds of religion and gender.
Pointing out the limitation of the study, the Commission said due to the ongoing issues of the CAA and NRC, some respondents were hesitant during the interviews. The survey was conducted before riots broke out in the area in February.