Thiruvananthapuram: The state govt has put on hold a proposed study on the socio-legal impact of triple talaq among Muslim women in Malappuram, after initially clearing the fieldwork at the request of the National Commission for Women (NCW). Malappuram was the only district in the state selected for primary data collection for the project.The NCW had asked the state govt to extend necessary support to the Haryali Centre for Rural Development, New Delhi, which is conducting the project titled “Triple Talaq and Muslim Women in India: A Comprehensive Study on Socio-Legal Impacts, Challenges and Reforms”. The study is proposed to cover select districts in Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Kerala. It will assess the challenges faced by affected women and evaluate the effectiveness of legal reforms and support mechanisms.The NCW had last month asked the Malappuram district collector to extend support to the research team and field investigators. The district administration subsequently sought the opinion of the Women and Child Development Directorate on the proposed study, and the directorate responded favourably. However, the decision to facilitate the fieldwork has now been put on hold.“The directorate had only conveyed its willingness to extend necessary assistance based on the request from the district administration. Since the govt has now decided to put the matter on hold, no field activities related to the study will be facilitated in Malappuram for the time being,” a source said.The decision assumes political significance as any govt-backed field exercise focusing on Muslim women and triple talaq in Malappuram could trigger controversy, despite being part of a multi-state project. The district has been at the centre of similar political debates over gold smuggling and hawala transactions in recent years.In Sept 2024, former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was quoted in a media interview as saying that a sizeable quantity of gold and hawala money seized from Malappuram over five years was meant for “anti-state and anti-national activities”. The remarks triggered strong protests from IUML and several Muslim organisations.Vijayan later disputed the manner in which the remarks had been attributed to him, while the media house issued a correction on the circumstances surrounding the interview. The issue subsequently became a political talking point, with the UDF raising it during the 2025 Nilambur bypoll.Against this backdrop, the govt appears wary of allowing an externally funded study on a politically sensitive subject such as triple talaq among Muslim women in Malappuram.
