DEHRADUN: Shayara Bano, the 41-year-old woman from Kashipur, Udham Singh Nagar district in Uttarakhand, who emerged as a prominent face in the battle against triple talaq, joined the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Dehradun on Saturday.
Joining the BJP, in the presence of state party president Bansidhar Bhagat, Bano said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is her idol as he fought for Muslim women and freed them from instant triple talaq practice in India. I hope to work towards empowering women and help achieve his vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat."
Political experts in the state are calling this a 'move to woo minorities' by the BJP not only in Uttarakhand but also across the country.
Dehradun based political analyst Yogesh Kumar said, "the BJP is trying to be inclusive in the state by reaching out to minorities. By inducting Bano into the party, the BJP is sending a message out to the minority section of the country. Basically, they are saying that we care for you too. This move have come keeping in mind the upcoming assembly vote in Bihar and due elections in West Bengal."
According to the center there has been decline of around 82 per cent of instant triple talaq cases.
Last year in August, Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 was passed in the Parliament criminalizing the instant triple talaq practice in the country.
In August 2017, Supreme Court ruled the practice of instant triple talaq illegal.
Resident of Kashipur town, a postgraduate in sociology from Kumaon University, Bano had approached the court in February 2016 after she received talaqnama by post in October 2015.
Her husband, dropped her in Muradabad while on way to Kashipur in April 2015. Left stranded in midway, Bano had to walk to her parent's house in Kashipur.
Her parents Iqbal Ahmed (58), an accountant in Indian Army and Firoza Begum (56), a housewife told her not to give up to roadblocks thrown in her journey of life.
Commenting on the issue, state BJP president Bansidhar Bhagat said, "Our honorable Prime Minister has freed our Muslim sisters from the shackles of instant triple talaq. It was only after 70-years of independence that this was done by our PM. The Congress has cheated our sisters in 1986 which we have reversed."
Meanwhile, Indian National Congress termed the move as deceiving.
"The BJP never cares of minorities. They are just deceiving the minorities as they did with the people of this country," said Suryakant Dhasmana, vice-president of the Uttarakhand Congress unit.