Bangladesh is one of the countries in the world where family ties and happiness are very important. A culture of maintaining conjugal life has been going on in our country for a long time. Our culture and tradition focus on strengthening family ties. It is very unfortunate but true that we are slowly moving away from the culture of continuing married life in our country. Divorce cases are occurring frequently at present which is really incompatible with our culture. Under Muslim law, marriage is a civil contract and through this contract the couple takes an oath to have a beautiful family. Husbands and wives have no blood ties, yet their mutual trust, love and respect inspire them to have a nice family for the rest of their lives. Marriage is a sacred bond that lasts on the mutual trust of husband and wife. Divorce is permitted for very specific reasons, but it is discouraged, even in the Quran. Divorce can never be desirable but sadly it is happening now in our urban and rural areas. The number of divorce in our country is rising at an alarming rate. According to the Muslim Family Law of 1961 and the Marriage & Divorce Registration Act of 1974, divorce  can be done in case of urgent need but it seems to be a fashion in our country now.

The number of divorces has been steadily rising over the past few years and marriage life is being spoilt due to slight quarrel. The number of divorce applications filed by only the two city corporations in Dhaka is extremely worrying and alarming. According to statistics, in the first 180 days of 2019, 4500 divorce applications were filed. Every 1 hour an application to break up a family is being submitted to the city corporation. The divorce rate is higher in urban areas than in rural areas of Bangladesh. About 70 percent of divorce applications come from women and 30 percent from men. The divorce rate is much higher among educated people and lower among the common people. A survey shows that from 2010 to 2019, the number of divorces in the capital is about 70000 and 50 to 60 divorce applications are submitted daily.

According to a newspaper report dated 22 December 2020, in just five months from June to October 2020, the rate of divorce has increased largely. During this time there were 39 divorces everyday, i,e,  one divorce every 37 minutes. Divorce rates are highest among working husbands and wives. In the five months of this year 5970 divorces have been taken place in Dhaka. There is an average of 1194 divorces per month. Last year there was an average of 920 divorces per month. Divorce has increased by 29.78 percent in the first 5 months of this year. The incidence of divorce in 2019 has increased by 17 percent compared to 2018. There have been 4773 divorces in Chittagong this year. In Sylhet there were 2336 divorce applications filed in 10 months of this year.

The following reasons for divorce are found.1. At present women are too conscious about their position which hastens divorce. 2. In today's mechanical civilization, the conflict of personality between husband and wife accelerates divorce. 3. Mutual respect, trust, and love between husband and wife are disappearing day by day which is the reason for divorce. 4. Lack of tolerance in conjugal life is taking an acute shape. 5. Bad temper, suspicion, self-ego, indifference, impatience are the reasons for breaking up the family. 6. The negative effects of TV serials, Facebook, and social media are considered to be the cause of breaking-up of family. 7. Extramarital affairs, taking drugs and romance also cause divorce. 8. Husbands' addiction to other women is considered to be a vital reason for divorce. 9. Forgetting own culture and tradition and leaning towards western culture. 10. Husband domineering attitude towards wife. 11. Breaking-up of a joint family and living an isolated life. 12. Being too busy at office/work place and not giving time to family. 13. Working women cannot spend much time in the family which is seen by many as the reason for divorce. 14. Not having the tendency to accept the little mistakes of conjugal life. 15. Social pressure on continuing conjugal life is vanishing gradually and it is a cause of divorce. 16. Not giving proper maintenance to the wife. 17. Torture to wife for dowry. 18. Drug addiction, impotence and infertility.

Whatever the causes of divorce, it is easy to imagine how terrible the consequences of divorce can be. This divorce ruins the lives of children. This culture of divorce destroys family discipline on the one hand and the future of the children on the other. Divorce also hurts women a lot and they are  harassed by the society. Women face many problems at the time of their second marriage and as a result many women lose their mental balance. In our society women are still blamed for divorce. The National Women Council  has identified four reasons for women's divorce. 1. Dowry 2. Illicit relationships outside of marriage. 3. Mental torture. 4. Physical torture. There may be minor misconceptions in conjugal life, but it can never be desirable to break up family based on it. Marriage is a sacred bonding and one must learn to value it. Divorce culture should not be continued in a civilized society even if divorce is allowed religiously, morally, socially and legally. The goodwill of husband and wife is enough to sustain a conjugal life.

Divorce is a matter of disrespect that applies to both men and women. A sacred bond is utterly disrespected through divorce. Husband and wife who get divorced are looked down upon in society and can not show their face proudly to anyone. Therefore, both husband and wife need to make effort to avoid divorce. It is possible to avoid a bad work like divorce if a few guidelines can be followed. 1. To obey religious instructions. 2. Both husband and wife should share the work of family and appreciate each other's work. 3. Husband and wife should not criticize each other and if something goes wrong they should have a forgiving mentality. 4. They should not argue over trivial matters and have patience to restrain themselves even if there is a little misunderstanding. It is the husband's duty to give his partner time and to speak sweetly. Both should control their anger and bad temper.

At present almost everyone has to go through a kind of economic, social and family stress due to Covid-19 pandemic. It has also increased intolerance among the people. Psychological pressure is exacerbating marital strife. Divorce is on the rise due to family quarrels. In the past, women did not want to get divorced because their families did not want to give them shelter. Religious and moral values, social discipline and the positive intervention of the notable people in the society can prevent divorce. Surrounding pressures need to continue in conjugal life. It is essential to create a kind of social pressure against divorce. If there is less shelter in the father's house, the women will not seek divorce. A conjugal life sustains on the sacrifice of both husband and wife. The couple who learns to sacrifice will be able to enjoy a beautiful life.

The writer is Assistant Professor, B A F Shaheen College Kurmitola, Dhaka Cantonment.