Shah Bano again?
The Congress will scrap the triple talaq law if it forms the government in 2019, the party's women's wing chief Sushmita Dev said on Thursday.
Addressing the Congress' Minority Department convention here, Dev alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had created an atmosphere pitting Muslim women against Muslim men through the triple talaq law.
"A lot of people told us that women will be empowered if the triple talaq bill is passed. But we opposed that law because it is a weapon that Narendra Modi ji has prepared to put Muslim men in jail and make them stand in police stations," the All India Mahila Congress chief said.
She hailed Muslim women from all parts of the country for writing "crores of letters, carrying out signature campaigns and rebelling against" the law.
This led to a sharp rebuttal from Union Minister Arun Jaitley who asked Congress to look within. He wrote: “The AICC President Rahul Gandhi and his coterie, while addressing a minority convention promised to withdraw the Bill pending in the Parliament, penalising Triple Talaq. History has repeated itself, neither as a satire nor as a tragedy. It has repeated itself with a mindset of cruelty. The late Rajiv Gandhi committed a monumental mistake in legislatively overturning the Shah Bano judgment of the Supreme Court which guaranteed maintenance to all muslim women. He allowed deserted women to be driven to poverty and destitution. Thirty-two years later his son has taken another retrograde step to drive them not merely into destitution but also to live a life which is an antithesis of human existence. The Muslim woman in Bareilly has been forced into animal existence.”
Read his full post below:
Does the Bareilly “Nikah-Halala” not shock your conscience?Some incidents are so unconscionable and repulsive that they shake the conscience of the society and compel it to take remedial measures. Injustice perpetuated by personal laws is a glaring example of this.
Many communities, over the last several decades, have brought incremental but significant changes in their personal laws. The object and direction of these changes has been that gender equality is ensured, rights of women and children are protected and the right to live with dignity is ensured. Some practices which survived for centuries were so obnoxious (as Sati and Untouchability) are now considered as unconstitutional.
A recent case from Bareilly has shocked my conscience. It relates to the obnoxious practice of Nikah-halala in Islamic personal law. A lady who is married in 2009 was twice divorced by her husband through Triple Talaq, once in 2011 and subsequently in 2017. The family prevailed upon the husband to accept her back. On both occasions, she was sedated and asked to undergo, Nikah-halala, on the first occasion with her father-in-law and on the subsequent occasion with her brother-in-law. They both raped her. Almost a similar case was reported by the PTI on September 2nd, 2018 as having taken place in the Sambhal District of Uttar Pradesh. That in the 21st Century there could be such gross violation of the dignity of women in the world’s largest democracy should make every head hang in shame. After raping this lady, both the father-in-law and brother-in-law used the weapon of Triple Talaq to divorce the victim so that she could be accepted by her husband.
If Triple Talaq had not been a permitted mode of divorce in India, would this incident emanating from a no fault – impulsive divorce have taken place. The Supreme Court has already declared instant talaq as unconstitutional and yet in the absence of a deterrent it can at best amount to a civil wrong with no penal consequences. A number of Muslim men and conservatives are choosing to even ignore the Supreme Court judgment.
Unfortunately, when human conscience should have been repelled while reading this news in the morning Newspapers. The AICC President Rahul Gandhi and his coterie, while addressing a minority convention promised to withdraw the Bill pending in the Parliament, penalising Triple Talaq. History has repeated itself, neither as a satire nor as a tragedy. It has repeated itself with a mindset of cruelty. The late Rajiv Gandhi committed a monumental mistake in legislatively overturning the Shah Bano judgment of the Supreme Court which guaranteed maintenance to all muslim women. He allowed deserted women to be driven to poverty and destitution. Thirty-two years later his son has taken another retrograde step to drive them not merely into destitution but also to live a life which is an antithesis of human existence. The Muslim woman in Bareilly has been forced into animal existence.
Votes are important, so is fairness. Political opportunists only look at the next day’s Headlines. Nation-builders look at the next Century.
1. Perverted mentality: BJP
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Muslim women and the people of India will not forgive the Congress for its "perverted mentality", the BJP said on Thursday after the opposition party announced that it will scrap the law banning triple talaq if it forms government in 2019.
Accusing the Congress of following the policy of appeasement, the BJP also referred to the "audacity" of Rahul Gandhi in not caring about the Supreme Court.
"What kind of mentality is this? This is only to appease. The people of this country are looking. Neither Muslim women nor the people of this country will forgive Rahul Gandhi for this kind of perverted mentality," said BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra.
2. Look at Rahul Gandhi's audacity: BJP
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His comments came after Congress' women wing chief Sushmita Dev promised to scrap the law banning triple talaq if the party comes to power in the general elections. Addressing the party's Minority Department convention, she also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had created an atmosphere pitting Muslim women against Muslim men through the law.
With the triple talaq bill continuing to face resistance in the Rajya Sabha, the central government issued an ordinance in September last year, incorporating certain amendments.
The ordinance was re-promulgated last month as the first one was about to expire.
"Look at the audacity of Mr Rahul Gandhi? His party... to appease says that if we come to power, we will not care about the Supreme Court (and) we will ban the ordinance, the law, the bill Mr. Modi is trying to bring in consonance to what Supreme Court has said," Patra said at a press conference.
3. Will scrap law: Sushmita Dev
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"The Congress party stood up and opposed it in Parliament. I promise you people that the Congress government will come in 2019 and we will scrap this law. But it is also certain that whatever law is brought for women's empowerment, by whichever government, the Congress will support it," Dev said.
4. What is the bill?
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In December last year, a fresh bill to make the practice of triple talaq among Muslims a penal offence was introduced in Lok Sabha to replace an ordinance issued in September.
Under the proposed law, giving instant triple talaq will be illegal and void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018 superseded an earlier bill passed in the Lok Sabha and pending in the Rajya Sabha.
The earlier bill was approved by the Lower House. Amid opposition by some parties in the Upper House, the government cleared some amendments, including introduction of a provision of bail, to make it more palatable.
As the bill continued to face resistance in Rajya Sabha, the government issued an ordinance in September, incorporating amendments.
The ordinance was re-promulgated recently as the first one was about to expire.
The government has maintained that despite the Supreme Court striking down the practice of talaq-e-biddat (instant triple talaq) as unconstitutional, men were divorcing their wives on flimsy grounds and even via WhatsApp.
The opposition has said divorce cannot be made a penal offence and the provisions of the bill are against basic principles of the Constitution.
