Born Muslim, Kerala's Safiya wants no religion, no caste, moves SC for a bigger cause

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Safiya PM, a 51-year-old woman from Kerala's Alappuzha, has kicked off a legal battle which has ruffled a few feathers. She moved the Supreme Court with three demands: to obtain a 'no religion, no caste' certificate; to be governed by the Indian Succession Act; and to declare a section of the Indian Succession Act which excludes Muslims as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court set her plea in motion on January 28 and sought the centre's response in four weeks.
Safiya, a social activist and the General Secretary of Ex-Muslims of Kerala, calls herself a born Muslim woman to a non-practising Muslim father in her petition. She has sought a declaration from the Supreme Court that the persons who do not want to be governed by the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, must be allowed to be governed by the secular law of the country, namely, the Indian Succession Act, 1925 both in the case of intestate and testamentary succession.
She believes that the practices under Sharia law are highly discriminatory towards Muslim women, and hence, it violates the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Indian Constitution. The petition filed by Advocate Prashant Padmanabhan notes: "Being born to Muslim parents, her religion was mentioned as 'Islam' and against caste, it was written 'Muslim' in her SSLC book. She was a minor while in school and it was not her choice to record her religion as such".
Safiya wants no religion and no caste as her identity. She doesn't practise Islam as her father UA Muhammed is also a non-believer. She cites the example of Madras High Court Advocate Sneha Partibharaja, who has received such a certificate in Tamil Nadu. Sneha was born to an inter-caste couple and left the caste and religion columns blank during her academic years. She managed to get a no-caste certificate from Tirapattur tahsildar in 2019.
"If you are born in this country as a Muslim, you have to abide by the Muslim personal law. If you convert, you can't inherit assets. Even if you leave your religion, there is no provision to have inheritance rights. That's why I want to have a no-caste certificate and to be governed by the Indian Succession Act," says Safiya.
A divorcee, she has a daughter, 25-year-old Esha, who works as an animator, and as per Sharia law, she will be entitled to only 50 per cent of Safiya's property. "I want to give my entire property to my daughter. For that to happen, a declaration from the court is required," she says.
Safiya takes care of her brother, who is disabled, and she asserts, "What I ask for is not my remuneration to look after my brother. I need to have the right to bequeath my property as per the Indian Succession Act".
At this point, Safiya has another hurdle to cross. Muslim Personal Law has a provision by which a person can ask for a declaration from the prescribed authority that she be governed by the Sharia, even in the case of wills and legacies. However, there is no similar option for a born Muslim who has left her faith to come out of the ambit of succession law under Sharia.
Safiya says this is violative of her fundamental right to be non-religious. Even if she chooses to be governed by the Indian Succession Act, there is a section in the act which expressly excludes Muslims regarding testamentary succession. " How can such an act be called secular if it excludes Muslims?" asks Safiya. She has also challenged the constitutional validity of exclusionary clauses in the Indian Succession Act. Safiya wants such sections to be declared unconstitutional.
The court had earlier sought responses from both the union and the state government regarding her plea, however both the governments did not file responses. This time, Safiya is hopeful. "I am fully aware of the ramifications my legal battle could cause. My family stands by me in this fight," Safiya says.