New Delhi: The Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), has condemned the passing of revised Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018 in Lok Sabha which criminalizes instant triple Talaq. The party reiterated its demand that the revised bill to go to a select committee of the two houses of parliament.
SDPI National President M. K. Faizy in a statement said that the when Supreme Court declared that instant triple Talaq is invalid and by saying that even marriage didn’t dissolved, then again bringing the Bill and discussing in Parliament was just a waste of time and public money. He wondered why BJP is not discussing the important issues like unemployment, farmers’ woes, poverty and economic crisis in the same spirit.
M. K. Faizy questioned the three-year-jail term for the husband, arguing that in no other religion there is such a punishment for desertion. There was also no clarity on who would provide maintenance to the wife once the husband is in jail. He also questioned whether such hard-core tactics would help bring a family together. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, (AIMPLB), has already gathered authentic data where 90 percent Muslim women are against this Bill, he pointed out.
He wondered about the logic behind the government curbing the practice of instant triple Talaq while supporting the “decriminalization” of homosexuality. He termed it as an attack on the rights conferred upon Muslims by the Constitution.
He said in the name of tradition women cannot enter a religious place in Sabarimala temple even though Supreme Court ruled that it’s illegal to deny the right to Hindu women. But the same traditional practice in Islamic religion is not acceptable. Why these double standards? What is not provided in an ecclesiastical context by religious tenets and sanction, can the government give a right of seeking divorce to a Muslim woman by legislation? The end result will be resorting to desertion without seeking divorce. He said that Dowry is banned but are we able to implement the law even after so many decades? All this is vote bank politics knowing pretty well the legislation will remain only on paper.
He charged that the Union Law Minister has “misread” the Supreme Court judgment. Nowhere does it say that instant triple Talaq should carry criminal punishment. In any other religion, there is no punishment for desertion. The Triple Talaq Bill is not about empowering Muslim women, it is about penalising a Muslim man.