The Latest: Top stories of the day
1. Rahul Gandhi is rumoured to take over as Congress president this year.
2. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav questions forensic report that says the meat seized in the Dadri lynching case was beef.
3. In Bihar, 14 candidates who scored high marks in the Class XII boards will have to write the examinations again to prove they actually earned their scores.

The Big Story: In her own voice

The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan has gathered 50,000 signatures in a petition to abolish the triple talaq system of divorce. The group, which says its surveys shows that 92% of Muslim women want the practice banned, now seeks the support of the National Commission for Women. Triple talaq is an "un-Quranic" practice, says the letter composed by the BMMA, and several informed commentators would agree.

Whatever its place in the scriptures, the practice has grossly undermined the civil rights of Muslim women. The original ritual provided for three months of dialogue but, in practice, it is considerably shorter – a man may utter "talaq" three times and divorce his wife in an instant. Indian courts have patrolled the boundaries of the religious ritual, pronouncing that the man would have to prove that he went through the proper paces – providing a valid reason for divorce, waiting for three months and appointing arbitrators – if the talaq was legally challenged by the woman. Other rulings have tried to safeguard the woman's right to maintenance. But, in most cases, the courts can only guarantee protections after the woman has approached them. Very often, that does not happen, and triple talaq remains an arbitrary and exploitative practice.

The push to end triple talaq has raised speculation that India is inching towards a uniform civil code. The merits of homogenised civil laws are a separate debate and, for the moment, the code remains a distant prospect. Specific reforms to dated personal laws, driven by the respective communities, is an appealing alternative. The BMMA's petition could be a rare and important moment: a suppressed voice from within the community is asking for change. It must be heard.

The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's big story
Flavia Agnes writes that the debate on triple talaq is missing a few facts.
Tahir Mahmood argues that it's no conspiracy if courts intervene in personal laws.
Ajaz Ashraf points out that Pakistan and 21 other Muslim countries have abolished triple talaq.

Politicking and policying
1. The Bharatiya Janata Party is reportedly scoping for a new Gujarat chief minister after its internal surveys showed that Anandiben Patel was unable to "connect" with voters.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels to Odisha, and the state BJP hopes for a revival.
3. Hearing Karnataka's appeal against J Jayalalithaa's acquittal in the disproportionate assets case, the Supreme Court observed that acquiring assets was no crime unless it could be proved the source was illegal.

Punditry
1. In the Indian Express, Sanjib Baruah argues that the BJP's win in Assam was not a victory of Hindutva but a consolidation on the issue of citizenship.
2. In the Hindu, Vidya Subramaniam on what the dying Congress could do to revive itself.
3. In the Telegraph, Anabel Lloyd on the sense of siege gathering in Britain on the eve of the Brexit vote.

Don't Miss...
Vice President Hamid Ansari's speech challenging notions of Muslim cultural homogeneity:

In current discussions in many places, the terms "Arab" and "Islam" are used together or interchangeably. But are the two synonymous? Is Arab thought synonymous with Islamic thought? Is all Arab thought Islamic or visa versa? Above all, can all Islamic thinking be attributed to Arabs?

I raise these questions because for a variety of reasons and motivations the contemporary world, particularly the West, tends to create this impression of "a powerful, irrational force that, from Morocco to Indonesia, moves whole societies into cultural assertiveness, political intransigence and economic influence." The underlying basis for this, as Aziz Al-Azmeh put it, are "presumptions of Muslim cultural homogeneity and continuity that do not correspond to social reality."