Life after talaq: Orissa women want to be included in BPL list

Around 1,000 divorced Muslim women staged a rally here on Wednesday demanding the inclusion of their names in the BPL (Below Poverty Line) list. Rasan Begam, who got talaq within two months of her wedding, narrated how she was passing through a difficult time. “I have to work as a maid for my survival. I even have to beg for food,” she said.

Like her, most other Muslim women narrated how life had become tough for them after divorce. “One can easily get talaq in our society. But going for a re-marriage is difficult,” rues Sakeena Bibi. With prices of essential commodities shooting up, it is only getting worse for 5,000 women like them in Orissa, Saira Mirza, president of the Talaki Mahila Sahayata Samitiee (association to help divorced women), said.

“Men take advantage of the talaq provision. They desert their wives after fathering a few kids, leaving the mother to rear them all,” she said.

The association demanded that the pension be hiked from Rs400 to at least Rs800 a month. Only 616 women are availing the pension now. “The hapless women should be included under BPL and avail of the benefits,” she said. A BPL card-holder in Orissa can get 25 kg of rice at Rs2 per kg. Sakeena also sought a home for the women under Indira Awaz scheme.

Social activist Hussain Rabi Gandhi said that if society did not come forward to take up their cause, they might be forced on the wrong path. “One can do anything for two square meals,” Gandhi said.

Expressing solidarity with the hapless women, Maulana Asfaque Ali said that once a woman gets talaq, she becomes helpless. “She is neither able to stay with her parents nor with her in-laws’ house,” said Ali, adding that it forced them to take up the job of maid.
The divorced women have a soft corner for their Hindu counterparts. “Those Hindu women who have got divorced should also avail the facilities,” association members said.