THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- October 19, 2016- Topic 1
The Centre’s categorical stand that
personal laws should be in conformity with the Constitution will be of immense
assistance to the Supreme Court in determining the validity of practices such
as triple talaq and polygamy. By arguing that such practices impact adversely
on the right of women to a life of dignity, the Centre has raised the question
whether constitutional protection given to religious practices should extend
even to those that are not in compliance with fundamental rights. The
distinction between practices essential or integral to a particular religion,
which are protected under Article 25, a provision that seeks to preserve the
freedom to practise and propagate any religion, and those that go against the
concepts of equality and dignity, which are fundamental rights, is something
that the court will have to carefully evaluate while adjudicating the validity
of the Muslim practices under challenge. From the point of view of the
fundamental rights of those affected, mostly women, there is a strong case for
these practices to be invalidated. The idea that personal laws of religions
should be beyond the scope of judicial review, and that they are not subject to
the Constitution, is inherently abhorrent. The affidavit in which the All India
Muslim Personal Law Board sought to defend triple talaq and polygamy is but an
execrable summary of the patriarchal notions entrenched in conservative
sections of society.
This is not the first time that aspects
of Muslim personal law have come up for judicial adjudication. On triple talaq,
courts have adopted the view that Islam does not sanction divorce without
reason or any attempt at reconciliation, and that talaq would not be valid
unless some conditions are fulfilled. There are judgments that say the presence
of witnesses during the pronouncement of talaq, sound reasons for the husband
to seek a divorce and some proof that an attempt was made for conciliation are
conditions precedent for upholding a divorce. The present petition before the
Supreme Court seeks a categorical ruling that talaq-e-bidat — an irrevocable
form of triple talaq that is permitted but considered undesirable in Islam — is
unconstitutional. There are many who contend that instant divorce is not
allowed, and that the triple talaq has to be spread over a specified time
period, during which there are two opportunities to revoke it. Only the
articulation of the third makes it irrevocable. It should be possible for the
court to test these practices for compliance with the Constitution.
Vocabulary
Conformity: compliance with standards, rules, or laws.
Example: Conformity to regulations
Immense: extremely large or great, especially in scale or degree.
Example: The cost of restoration has been immense
Synonyms: huge, vast, massive, enormous, gigantic, colossal, great
Compliance: the action or fact of complying with a wish or command.
Example: They must secure each other's cooperation or compliance
Preserve: food made with fruit preserved in sugar, such as jam or marmalade.
Example: Home-made preserves
Synonyms: jam, jelly, marmalade, conserve, fruit spread
Adjudicate: make a formal judgment or decision about a problem or disputed matter.
Example: The committee adjudicates on all betting disputes
Inherently: existing in something as a permanent, essential, or characteristic
attribute.
Example: Any form of mountaineering has its inherent dangers
Synonyms: intrinsic, innate, immanent, indwelling, inborn, ingrained, deep-rooted
Abhorrent: inspiring disgust and loathing; repugnant.
Example: Racial discrimination was abhorrent to us all
Synonyms: detestable, hateful, loathsome, despicable, abominable, execrable
Execrable: extremely bad or unpleasant.
Example: Execrable cheap wine
Synonyms: appalling, atrocious, lamentable, egregious, awful, dreadful, terrible
Entrenched: establish (an attitude, habit, or belief) so firmly that change is very
difficult or unlikely.
Example: Ageism is entrenched in our society
Synonyms: ingrained, established, well-established, confirmed, fixed, firm
Reconciliation: the restoration of friendly relations.
Example: His reconciliation with your uncle
Synonyms: reuniting, reunion, bringing together conciliation, reconcilement
Irrevocable: not able to be changed, reversed, or recovered; final.
Example: An irrevocable step
Synonyms: irreversible, unalterable, unchangeable, immutable, final, binding
Articulation: the action of putting into words an idea or feeling of a specified type.
Example: It would involve the articulation of a theory of the just war
