Muslims Members of Parliament and Ministers are scheduled to hold another round of discussions today with the All Ceylon Jammithul Ulema (ACJU) in an attempt to reach a consensus over the proposed amendments to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA).
Parliamentarian Faiszer Musthafa told the Daily News that although the deadline to submit the draft proposal to the Minister of Justice was due today, a consensus couldn’t not be reached during the meeting with the Ulema’s last week.
“All Muslim MPs are scheduled to meet with the Ulemas today with the hope of expeditiously coming to a finality,” he said. “We remain committed to the reforms that we’ve wished to make.
This meeting will ensure that we all come to a common understanding.” A coalition of women’s groups held a press conference on Friday calling on the MPs not to dilute the recommendations agreed on on July 11th. The coalition called on Muslim MPs to build on the recommendations and to consider comprehensive reform as a “real and sustainable solution to the issues” relating to marriage and divorce within the community.
“As it is a man-made law, amendments are compulsory when there is a necessity,” said Ermiza Tegal, a human rights lawyer and member of the Muslim Personal Law Reform Action Group at the media briefing. She said that the Act “does not need piece meal changes, which would make no difference to muslim women in Sri Lanka”.
(Daily News)