Now Triple Talaq Is Crime

The Triple Talaq Bill, endorsed as many as three times by Lok Sabha in the past one year and a half, has finally won the endorsement of the Rajya Sabha. With that, instant Triple Talaq among Muslims has been finally criminalized, thus providing a huge relief to lakhs of Muslim women across the country. Thousands of Muslim women have sent messages to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, congratulating him and his government for the historic move that has led to ending the archaic and medieval practice that had reduced women in the particular community to mere commodities. Interestingly, though the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights of Marriage) Bill, 2019, there is still a large section of people in the country who are opposed to nullifying Triple Talaq. This became clear in the break-up of Rajya Sabha members as the Bill was moved; while there were 99 votes in favour of the Bill, as many as 84 also opposed it, the margin between the two sides being very narrow. Now the Bill awaits the assent of the President, and once that happens, the practice of instant divorce by Muslim men will become a punishable act, inviting imprisonment up to three years. Prime Minister Modi, in a tweet immediately after the Upper House endorsing the Bill, said, “An archaic and medieval practice has finally been confined to the dustbin of history!” He also described the move by Parliament to abolish Triple Talaq as a correction of a historical wrong done to Muslim women. “This is a victory of gender justice and will further equality in society,” the Prime Minister added. It is a fact that the abolition of Triple Talaq would contribute in a big way to empowerment of women among the Muslim community which has remained a victim of continuous neglect since Independence. Abolition of the practice of Triple Talaq will also contribute immensely towards giving Muslim women the dignity they deserve in society. The Congress party, which has always tried to play the Muslim card to get votes, however, does not seem to be very amused over the declaration of Triple Talaq as a criminal offence. Realizing that Prime Minister Modi has scored a massive political over-boundary that will have a tremendous impact on the Muslim women cast votes during elections, the Congress party has described it as a politically motivated move. The Congress was trying to buy more time by pressing the Government to send the Bill to the Select Committee. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has gone to the extent of saying that real intention of the BJP government in passing the Bill was “destruction of Muslim families”. Looking back, one finds that the Supreme Court of India had struck down instant Triple Talaq in August 2017, though the fact remains that it was a split verdict of a five-judge Bench. Last week, the government had informed Lok Sabha that as many as 574 Triple Talaq cases since January 2017 and 300 since the Supreme Court order of August 2017 have been reported by the media.