Reliving that moment, the lady, who filed a petition in the Supreme Court, joining the other victims in demanding an annulment of the draconian practice, says, "In 2014, my husband called me from Dubai and told me 'talaq' thrice. That was the end of my married life. After that, my fight against instant triple talaq system began and I filed a petition, demanding an end to it, before the Supreme Court of India."

Needless to say, Esharat is one among the many individual who welcomed the Supreme Court's recent landmark verdict.

"When the five-justice's bench announced instant triple talaq system 'unconstitutional', I became so happy," she says.

But not everyone is rejoicing now that the apex court has forced a community to wake up from its slumber.

"Triple talaq system is being practiced for last 1400 years. Neither the Supreme Court nor Central government has power to interfere in the internal matters of Muslim laws," expresses West Bengal Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind President and Trinamool Congress MLA Siddiqullah Chowdhury.

Chowdhury, who hails from the same state as Esharat, is a hardliner.

With Chowdhury complaining about the law and the 'forceful interference' by the Supreme Court, one tends to wonder if he is indeed right.

But contrary to his statement, senior Delhi-based lawyer Sudipta Basu feels otherwise. 

"The verdict is very balanced," Basu explains. "The five member bench had judges from all faiths and even though it went 3-2 in favour of the women, I feel it is a great verdict."

Basu also feels that the disparity regarding divorces exists in Indian society due to the lack of a singular uniform civil code.

"Hindu laws have changed with time, whereas Muslim laws are still very archaic. The Muslims believe that they will be governed by the Sharia laws, which doesn't keep pace with  time. My viewpoint is simple, we have to have a uniform civil code," Basu says. "They have to adhere to the laws of the land."

But Chowdhury remains adamant.

"Supreme Court's verdict on instant triple talaq is unconstitutional," he says.

Chowdhury's sentiment is shared by All India Muslim Personal Law Board(AIMPLB). It has been very critical about every judgement that did not match their expectations. And even stated that  it is unpardonable on the apex court's behaviour to challenge the Sharia. 

"India is a nation of diverse cultures and different religions. Personal laws of all these groups are derived from their religious texts or scriptures and it has unique relevance in their cultural identity," it says. "Therefore any kind of interference in this is not only a violation of religious freedom enshrined in the constitution but will put an end to their unique cultural identity."

"Govt has responded appropriately"

A Muslim woman from Gujarat's Ahmedabad was one among the many who rejoiced the verdict and thanked the judicial system for a logical legal outcome of her decade-long campaign. She is is Zakia Soman, one of the most recognisable faces behind the triple talaq ban movement.

Zakia Soman spearheaded the campaign to end triple talaq and polygamy in the Muslim society. The 50 something lady is the co-founder of Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA, the other founder of which is Noorjehan Safia Niaz). While the petitioner in the case was 36-year-old Shayara Bano, it was Zakia's BMMA which nourished the campaign to see discontinuance of triple talaq.

As her momentum gathered storm, Soman was accused of involving the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to convert the pending case into a political affair, however she retorted.

"If the Muslim Law Board had given us our Koranic rights, the question of BJP conspiracy would not have arisen," she says.

Soman adds that the BJP was the only party to approach the case in the right way.

"The BJP is in power in the past three years only and it is only that they have responded appropriately on the issue by filing an affidavit in the court when asked. If the BJP has indeed got Muslim votes in the Uttar Pradesh elections, it could be the Muslim women voting them, to get equal rights," she adds.

Soman is not the only one thanking the BJP government for the historic ruling. Even though it was the Supreme Court, an apolitical body, who sealed the fate of the case, many have thanked the party for not seeing political interest and keeping itself away from tinkering with the law.

BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli feels that this issue wasn't political.

"The issue of triple talaq is not political. Article 14 of Indian Constitution guarantees equality for all,' Kohli says.

"Triple Talaq has been banned by most Islamic countries in the world including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan in the SAARC region. There is an overwhelming demand from Muslim women to end this practice of gender injustice," he said a month ahead of the verdict.

Enemy of Islam

Ever since the verdict, Esharat has been living in fear.

Abuses are hurled at her every now and then by her in-laws and neighbours, who have also cornered her for taking a brave stance.

Confiding her predicament, she says, "After the judgement was pronounced, my relatives, in-laws and locals have started boycotting me and my child. My fight was against the injustice against Muslim women and now they are tagging me as an 'enemy of Islam'."

AIMPLB not the custodian of Muslim community

For long, 'Islam Khatre Mein Hain' (Islam is at risk) has been the war cry for so called Muslim organisations, which take offence at the slightest inconvenience, says critics of AIMPLB. They have mobilised many into carrying insensible tasks with the help of certain choice words. Many say this is made possible due to the lack of proper education among the Muslim community. The AIMPLB is one such body.

Soman feels that the AIMPLB is misleading the Muslim community and rejects its overprotective self proclaiming nature.

"They (AIMPLB) cannot be the custodian of Muslim community in India on their own. Their mindset represents a deep patriarchy. They only reinforce the stereotypes of the Muslim community in a regressive way," she says.

Her ideology is shared by Basu too, who feels that the body has 'way too many men' who tries to belittle women in more ways than one.

We don't want any change

Often the present is a good indicator of the future. With the exception of few cases, one really doesn't run (and win) a marathon without adequate preparation.

What is worrying is that college students seem to be okay with the notion of triple talaq.

Nilufa Khatun, a student of Maulana Azad College says that she's happy with the Islamic laws and doesn't want anything to change.

"We have a good Islamic law, we will follow that and we don't want any change in that," she states.

Md. Jeeshan Mullick, a student of Kolkata's Aliah University is against the misuse of triple talaq but states that he's fine with it.

"Since my birth, I've been following Muslim law and I have not found anything wrong in that. Some women are truly suffering due to instant and sudden triple talaq, but there are people in our community who are not facing any trouble after talaq. So, I think triple talaq system is okay for us, we don't want or need any change," he says. "But, the government should ensure that none could misuse the triple talaq law."

Need more voice

Soman rues the lack of participation from Muslim women and wants them to be more active in voicing concerns.

"Only religious and males voices are heard so far. This must change," she says.

"An assessment of programmes for the empowerment of religious minorities in India reveals that Muslim women and girls remain largely invisible in the overall policy framework," the BMMA co-founder adds.

Light at the end of the tunnel

"The percentage of Muslim couple divorcing in court is very less...around five to ten percent, according to my knowledge," shares Basu, who adds that the rate has improved in recent times.

"Now more Muslim couples are filing for divorce in courts. The change has got to do with the improvement in education standards and the willingness to make the separation legal," he adds.

Basu says that with the recent verdict, he sees light at the end of the tunnel. "Now they (Muslim women) at least have something to look up to. Now they will not be subjugated like they were all these years."

Polygamy and Nikah Halala

For Canada based Suman Das, a light hearted conversation about prevailing practices among Islamic men almost turned sour and threatened to ruin his friendship with his Muslim friends.

"Everyone in Canada rejoiced when they heard about the big development in India," Suman says speaking about the triple talaq verdict.

"The erudite class has always been against triple talaq," he adds, "However, just as we were having this discussion I asked them about their views on polygamy and what will be their reaction if the Indian Government decides to annul that too."

"I could feel the tension right away. Even the educated Muslims oppose the annulment of polygamy," he says.

Polygamy is not the only thing hindering the Muslim society, the prevailing law of Nikah Halala has also received mass criticism from other religions.

The Wikipedia states the above practice as: "If a husband divorces his wife by pronouncing talaq, he can revoke the divorce within the iddah, that is, the period of separation that precedes divorce. If the divorce is completed, the couple can remarry. The couple may divorce and remarry twice. However, if they divorce a third time, they can neither unite within the iddah period nor marry again until the ex-wife marries another man, to ensure that the divorce is taken seriously."

Recently a expose by India's India Today news channel showed the dark side of nikah halala when it found out how religious scholars are charging money for one-night stands with divorced Muslim women.

For a religion that prides itself for being benevolent, their approach towards women has received some harsh criticism.

Even though the Supreme Court of India have rid the Muslim women of the country from the clutches of Triple Talaq,  what baffles many is the community's usage of Sharia to defend its "regressive" practices even in 2017.

(Additional inputs by Deepayan Sinha)