Unanimously Accepted Demands

The following demands were unanimously accepte in the Conference:

· Unilateral and arbitrary triple Talaq must be banned.

· Men and women should have equal rights to divorce.

· Divorce needs to be accompanied with financial rights.

· There should be compulsory registration of Talaq.

· There should be a systematized procedure for divorce. The right to maintenance under Section 125 should be reinstated for divorced Muslim women.

. Women should retain the right to reside in the matrimonial home after divorce.

Mehr should be a value-added amount and should be paid in full. It should be in the form of property, gold, or fixed deposits where the value of it increases with time.

Women should get custody of children if they want it.

·Financial status should not be taken into account. Women and men should have equal rights to natural guardianship.

· All communities should have the legal right to adopt.

Unresolved Issues and Debates

In the discussions of the conference, it was felt that there was need for more work and debate before some issues could be resolved enough to carry forward campaigns on. These were:

. The procedure for registration of marriage. The procedure by which marriages would be registered remained unresolved. While some felt that for Muslim marriages, the nikahnama was an initial registration and proof of marriage, the process by which all marriages would be registered needs more discussion.

.. All participants agreed that Mehr amounts should be higher and given to the woman as her right, but what we need to further work out is how and when Mehr should be given.

· Similarly while there was complete consensus on registration of Talaq, the modalities of where Talaq can be given (in court, in public, like nikah, etc.) and how and where it should be registered need to be worked out.

· We also need a larger and intensive debate on what a standard nikahnama should contain and how such a standard nikahnama can be followed everywhere.

·  There is also need for more discussion to work on the details of women's right to residence in the matrimonial home and right to matrimonial property.