Minority Identity, Muslim Women Bill Campaign and the Political Process

The focus of this paper is on the movement of 1985-86 against the momentous Supreme Court verdict on the grant of maintenance to Shah Bano, a divorced Muslim woman. Who were the chief campaigners, and what ideological spectrum did they represent? Why did their campaign evoke such powerful responses from a wide spectrum of Muslim society? How did Muslim women in general respond to the controversy generated by the Supreme Court judgment and the Muslim Women Bill? And, finally, why did the government introduce an amendment which curtailed the rights of Muslim women?