Shayara Bano, a 35-year-old mother of two is fighting against triple talaq

A Muslim woman from Uttarakhand, who is spearheading a legal battle against 'triple talaq' divorce, says the All India Muslim Personal Board (AIMPLB) and some clerics requested her to withdraw her Supreme Court petition.

Shayara Bano, a 35-year-old mother of two, said she promptly rejected their appeal and firmly expressed her determination to carry on with her fight in the interest of lakhs of Muslim women suffering due to the 'discriminatory' practice.

The triple talaq is a Sharia law custom that allows men to end a marriage, simply by saying 'talaq' - or divorce - to their wives, three times in succession.

The apex court is hearing a lawsuit seeking a ban on three specific practices permitted under Muslim personal law: triple talaq, polygamy and nikah halala (a woman wishing to wed a man from whom she is divorced must first marry someone else).

'A month ago some people talking to me on behalf of the board asked me to withdraw the petition from Supreme Court', Bano told Mail Today.

'They told me 'when you are not going to gain anything from it personally why are you maligning the Muslim community?'

'I said to them I may havelost everything but I'm fighting for other women who are going to face such a situation.'

Muslims are India's largest minority community with a population of 155 million and their marriages and divorces are governed by the Muslim personal law, ostensibly based on the sharia.

Shayara Bano (pictured) says the All India Muslim Personal Board (AIMPLB) and some clerics requested her to withdraw her Supreme Court petition

The AIMPLB, a non-governmental body which oversees the application of Muslim personal law, opposes any ban on triple talaq and polygamy.

The board, however, said it has no information about the incident narrated by Bano.

A source said some local member in Uttarakhand's Kashipur area where the woman stays may have tried to contact her, but there was no such move officially from AIMPLB.

'There is no need for that when we are legally challenging her petition, which is pending in the Supreme Court,' the source said.

The story of Bano, a postgraduate in Sociology, is shocking. She endured a bad marriage, an abusive husband, and physical and mental agony for over a decade.

She was allegedly made to undergo as many as six abortions by her husband, who forcibly administered her pills which ruined her health.

On October 10, 2015, her husband sent a letter to her parents' home where she was staying for almost a year.

Inscribed on that piece of paper were three words: 'Talaq, Talaq, Talaq'. However, the Centre's support to at least seven Muslim women led by Bano who have moved the Supreme Court is a shot in the arm for the petitioners.

While defending the validity of triple talaq before the apex court, the AIMPLB took the ground that if the practice is discontinued, a man could even murder or burn his wife alive to get rid of her.

The board also contended that the Constitution does not touch upon personal laws and therefore, the SC cannot examine the question of constitutional validity of the practices of marriage, divorce and maintenance in Muslim personal law.

The government argued that there is no reason that women in India should be denied their constitutional rights when 'Muslim countries where Islam is the state religion have undergone extensive reform' in this sphere.

'Gender equality and dignity of woman are non-negotiable, overarching constitutional values can brook no compromise,' the Centre said in its affidavit.

'These rights are necessary in letter and in spirit to realise aspirations of every individual woman.'