NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday slammed the Centre for bringing an ordinance on instant triple talaq among Muslims, saying that the Modi government was using the issue as “a political football” and seeking fake credit over it.
Other Opposition parties that had opposed the Bill in the RS, however, kept mum.
The Opposition had not let the Bill pass in the Upper House claiming that it was politically motivated and needed more discussion before being cleared.
The Centre watered down some of the provisions of the Bill before tabling it in the Rajya Sabha during the monsoon session.
“PM Narendra Modi and BJP have become habitual offenders of using the issue of instant triple talaq as a political football for vote garnering rather than ensuring the welfare and subsistence of Muslim women,” said Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
On the BJP’s charge that the Opposition did not let the Bill pass in Parliament, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Singhvi said the BJP was fooling the nation once again with its propaganda machinery.
“How is the Opposition supposed to stall the triple talaq Bill if it was not even introduced in the Rajya Sabha for two sessions? Now the government has passed it as an ordinance. A hilarious joke of democracy,” he said.
The Congress asked the government to define ‘subsistence allowance’, specify the method of calculating it and clarify that if the husband was in jail, who will pay ‘maintenance’ and/or ‘subsistence allowance’ to women and children.
“Will it be in addition to ‘maintenance’ granted to a Muslim woman under Sections 3 and 4 of The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, or will such ‘maintenance’ be deducted from ‘subsistence allowance’ or will a Muslim woman be entitled to only one of the two, that is ‘maintenance’ or ‘subsistence allowance’?” asked the party.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said the ordinance was anti-women and will do more injustice to Muslim women.
‘More injustice’
“The SC verdict itself makes instant talaq illegal. Then for what do you want to punish men? The burden of proof will lie on the woman, doing further injustice to her,” Asaduddin Owaisi said.