Published On : Mon, Oct 24th, 2016

PM’s 1st statement on Triple Talaq: Lives of Muslim women can’t be destroyed

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New Delhi/Nagpur: Talking about the rights of Muslim women, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday addressed the issue of Triple Talaq for the first time asking that it should not be politicised.

“Is it fair for a man to say ‘talaaq’ thrice over the phone and a Muslim woman’s life to be ruined? This issue shouldn’t be politicised,” said PM Modi at a rally in Mahoba (Uttar Pradesh).

He criticised both politicians and people on TV debates saying such discussions on Triple Talaq would keep women “bereft of their rights’.

“I request people who participate in TV debates to not make women rights a Muslim-Hindu issue. Women’s right is a development issue. The debate should be between Muslims who want reforms and those who do not want reforms,” he added.

He also said that justice would be given to Muslim women under the Constitution regarding the issue. “It is responsibility of government and people of the country to give justice to Muslim women under Constitution,’ said Modi.

The prime minister also expressed hope of BJP’s victory in the assembly elections in UP next year. “In the coming polls, the picture is very clear. Just like it was in Lok Sabha polls of 2014. People gave full majority to BJP,’ said Modi.

For the first time in Indias constitutional history, the Centre last week, opposed in the Supreme Court the practice of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy among Muslims and favoured a relook on grounds like gender equality and secularism.

The Ministry of Law and Justice, in its affidavit, referred to constitutional principles like gender equality, secularism, international covenants, religious practices and marital law prevalent in various Islamic countries to drive home the point that the practice of triple talaq and polygamy needed to be adjudicated upon afresh by the apex court.

Meanwhile, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “converting the triple talaq issue into a political tool’ ahead of the Assembly elections in some states. “Around 7.36 crore Muslims are married in the country and they have not divorced. Hardly one per cent of Muslims have gone for ‘talaq’. But, (Narendra) Modi is making this a tool in his ‘Mann ki Baat’ for political gains in view of the forthcoming elections,” he told a public meeting at Kausa in Mumbra township.