European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 28, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Two Indian Couplet on their wedding Day. The Nalion t women Are beginning to Aik for More in divorce Tett Lement. Women press for rights uror Over Indian divorce Laws by Steven r. Weisman new York times she was cast aside by her husband alter43 years of marriage a not uncommon occurrence in much of the world. But Shahbanu reacted differently for an India woman especially for a moslem woman. She went to court to demand Money from the Man who divorced her. It took 10 years for the Case to reach the Indian supreme court which last year awarded Shah Bano a $40 monthly maintenance fee to be paid by her former husband a Well to do lawyer in the City of Indore. Then the juror began. In noisy demonstrations across India angry groups of moslem have been protesting the Shah Bano decision As an unwarranted intrusion into their religious affairs. Divorce and divorce settlements the protesters say. Are matters of moslem personal Law out of the Range of civil courts. Such Laws do not require maintenance payments from former husbands when marriages dissolve they say. We Don t recognize this decision said Syed Abdullah Bukhari the Imam of Jama Masjid. India s largest mosque in the heart of old Delhi. We will not accept such a direct interference with moslem personal  to the people who favor overturning the Shah Bano decision an important aspect of India s identity is at stake twists the India of diverse religions and cultures that holds itself together because it respects the practices of its minorities. Pitted against this group Are those who see India As a Progress Raj. Secular state with uniform Laws and Universal  is dangerous trend when a minority Community says it should be exempted from a supreme court judgment because of religion said Subhadra Eulalia a leading feminist writer and lawyer. A woman s right to claim redress before a co Jet of Law should not be  it is estimated that there Are 75 million moslem in India which is a Little More than 10 percent of the population. But the Case is More than a new source of grievance from India s largest religious minority or even a new cause celebre for feminists. In recent week it has become a vexing political quandary for prime minister Rajiv Gandhi an apostle of secularism but a politician worried about further losses among his moslem constituents. Gandhi has been meeting with feminist and moslem leaders in his own party to sort out the Issue. His aides Are known to be worried about a recent trend in which moslem voters have been abandoning their longtime support for the ruling Congress party. Curiously the moslem defections were hastened by Gandhi s negotiation of a settlement last year with the leaders of the troubled northeastern state of Assam. The prime minister agreed to the Dis enfranchisement or expulsion of millions of moslem who had illegally moved to Assam from nearby Bangladesh. The Accord infuriated moslem leaders. They organized their own political party and in december helped hand Gandhi s party one of its worst electoral defeats in years. Shaken by the results the prime minister s aides fear that  genuine crisis. Politicians who have met with Gandhi say he will probably support legislation to reverse the effects of the decision. But feminists have served notice that if this happens the Congress party will forfeit its claim to represent  As one Leader put it. In fact. Moslem in the Congress party Are themselves divided Over the Case although those who want the prime minister to stand by the Shah Bano decision acknowledge they Are in the minority in their communities. Gandhi reportedly exhorted a group of feminists not to impose Western perceptions on others. He is very concerned that a government decision should not Start communal bloodshed said Butalia who was among those who met with Gandhi. Shah Bano herself meanwhile has clouded the Issue by announcing her intention to drop her claim saying she was unaware that it violated religious tenets. I am an illiterate old woman so How was i to know All this?1 she said at a news conference in december. But her Case is still on the books and there has already been a proliferation c4 court orders Lor maintenance payments in Contor Nance with it. The Legal basis of the decision is ambiguous making it All the More controversial. A Section of the National criminal code clearly permits a judge to order payment of a maintenance fee to an impoverished divorced woman Bui Tome year ago the criminal code was amended to exempt any claim if the woman had already received what she was due under any customary or personal Law applicable to the  moslem maintain that Shah Bano did receive a Lump sum payment upon the divorce and that moslem Law clearly stipulates that a divorced woman s maintenance is to be paid by her own immediate family or the Community at Large not by her former husband. In making his decision the supreme court s chief Justice . Chandra Chud who has since retired started further controversy because in Elfeel he ruled that a maintenance payment was permissible under moslem personal Law. The idea of a hindu judge ruling on what is permissible in moslem Law was especially galling to moslem clergymen. So was the judge s larger suggestion that the nation adopt a Clear and uniform code for everyone. Friday february 28, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 13