Speaking about the BJP, Ahmed seeks to refure claims that the party is anti-Muslim.
It's may be nearly two years on but Sofia Ahmed can never forget her horrible ordeal. Battered and beaten, this convent educated girl from Chennai, was thrown out of her home in the dead of night in 2016 by her husband who had given her triple talaq. What's worse, she had a 40-day-old infant to look after.
But today, in a triumph of courage and will. Ahmed, 24, is now a member of the newly constituted state minorities commission of Uttar Pradesh (UP). Of the eight new members, she is one among two women, both Muslim, who have been nominated to the minorities' rights body.
Speaking exclusively to DNA about her ordeal Ahmed said, "I was married into a powerful political family of the Samajwadi Party. A year after marriage, and two months after my first anniversary, on the night of August 13, 2016, my husband, the brother of Samajwadi Party MLA Gazala Lari, came home drunk and threw me out of the house after announcing talaq thrice,"Ahmed recounted to DNA.
"I continued to stay in Kanpur in the hope, which turned out to be false, that I might be taken in again as I was with my infant. But, goons remained outside my house and even stalked me. My FIR was not registered for one whole year and cases against me were filed," she added.
The BJP has been trying to woo the caste-neutral constituency of women, especially Muslim women, and have rallied the latter around the triple talaq issue. The approach, as the results of UP elections showed, bore rich dividends for the saffron party when it was able to garner a good chunk of women votes from the Muslim community in Muslim-dominated seats.
The decision comes at a time when the Triple Talaq Bill failed to be passed in the Rajya Sabha, after clearing the Lok Sabha where BJP is in majority, owing to roadblocks from the Opposition.
"The appointment came as a surprise, but I am indebted to the chief minister, Prime Minister, and BJP. They have given me a powerful platform from which I can help co-victims. I have also been able to attack those who have defended triple talaq," Ahmed said.
Speaking about the BJP, Ahmed seeks to refure claims that the party is anti-Muslim."A perception has been created that BJP is anti-Muslim. But with the BJP Muslim women are now getting refuge. And more than that, this fight is not a political fight, it is not a fight against my community, rather it is a fight for the equality of women," she said.
Ahmed had joined the BJP in 2016.
BJP leaders have touted Ahmed's case as an evidence of their "pro-development, anti-appeasement" approach.
"The BJP government in UP and the head of the government Yogi Adityanath have been trying to implement the ideal of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas'. Sofia Ahmed is the face of the self-respect of her community and he appointment is an attempt to empower her and those like her to do good to the society," UP BJP spokesperson Dr Chandra Mohan told DNA.
Others appointed to the body are Suresh Jain, Sukhdarshan Bedi, Manoj Masih, Iqbal Haider, Afzal Chaudhary, Mohammad Aslam, and Rumana Khan.
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 "Sofia Ahmed")
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