turn secure support for the Congress. Shah Bano, a 73-year-old Muslim woman, was divorced by her husband after forty-three years of marriage. According to the Sharia or Muslim Law, her husband was not required to pay her alimony. Shah Bano challenged this decision in the Supreme Court, which ultimately ruled in her favour and ordered her husband to pay her a monthly maintenance allowance. This caused chaos amongst the Muslim clerics who denounced the judgement and suggested that their religion, Islam was under attack in the country. In a fear of losing overall Muslim support, Rajiv succumbed to the pressures of the Conservative Maulavis from Muslims community and his own party and backed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Bill which restricts alimony for Muslim Women only for 90 days after divorce. This caused an outcry from Muslim feminists and Hindu nationalists who found the appeasement of Muslim males by the Congress for political purposes wrong and opportunistic. Feminism was challenged by various minority groups for not entirely addressing the needs of minority populations. It was suggested that 'mainstream' feminism was upper caste and Hindu in its orientation and did not address the concerns of minority women. This led to the formation of the Awaaz-e-Niswaan (The Voice of Women) in 1987 in Mumbai in largely Muslim part of the city. The Muslim community has personal laws that often were considered harmful to the rights of Muslim women. The Muslim personal law allows Polygamy but not Polyandry. The dynamic of women's rights in India is on the foreground of the Muslim community and the Indian Nation State. Article 14 of the Indian Constitution states 'Equality before law' and grants every person equality before the law and equal protection in India. Article 15 prohibits discrimination based on religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Muslims women in India however are used as both an instrument and symbol for Islam in South Asia. Muslim Personal Law governs many aspects of a married Muslim Woman's rights in India. Personal Law serves a purpose in maintaining the democratic right to freedom of religion and preserving traditions which have been a part of India for many centuries. The idea of having 'differential citizenship' has resulted from the differences between constitutional and personal laws in India. Since the partition of Pakistan and Bangladesh the Muslim community in India have been greatly reduced. Maintaining Muslim