New Delhi: The government today tabled the Triple Talaq bill in the Lok Sabha with a hope to empower Muslim women and provide justice and protection for them from the cruel divorce practice of triple talaq in the Muslim community.
The Law Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “The rights of Muslim women will be protected. It is about justice and empowerment of women.”
However, the opposition chose to attack the government and were united in their efforts to protest against the pro women bill of the government. After a short discussion, the motion for tabling the bill was put to vote. 156 members voted for introduction while 74 opposed it.
There was stiff opposition from the opposition when the Law Minister tried to introduce the bill. The Speaker intervened when the opposition benches tried to stall the Minister from speaking.
AIMIM Member of Parliament, Asaduddin Owaisi even claimed that the bill was unconstitutional and said that it was an injustice against Muslim women. He was concerned for the Muslim men who would be jailed for committing the crime of triple talaq to divorce their wives.
Congress MP, Shashi Tharoor claimed that the bill does nothing to improve the status of Muslim women. Interestingly, Tharoor is accused in the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.
Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan said that his party supports what is written in the Quran when it came to the Triple Talaq bill. He gave his opinion that for marriage, divorce and for everything, the Quran has clear instructions.
Azam khan has been in the news earlier for his statement against Jaya Prada in a bad light that was derogatory against women.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights of Marriage) Bill 2019 is the first legislation to be introduced in the 17th Lok Sabha by the government. The bill tries to replace an ordinance by the government in February to make the practice of Triple Talaq a penal offence.
Though the bill was passed last year in the Lok Sabha it got stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the opposition had a favorable position.