Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev on Thursday promised the triple talaq law would be scrapped when the Congress comes to power.
Although her comment triggered a political row, with the BJP describing it as the height of appeasement, Sushmita explained that the practice of instant triple talaq already stood abolished and the Congress was only opposing the provision in the proposed law that criminalises a civil matter.
The Congress had objected to certain provisions of the bill in both Houses of Parliament and forced a reconsideration in the Rajya Sabha, demanding that a select committee look into it. Even if the bill is not passed, triple talaq stands abolished by an order of the Supreme Court that most parties, including the Congress, have welcomed.
Addressing a minorities conference here, Dev said: “In the name of empowerment, the government has given nothing but criminal case to women. The real purpose of the bill is not to empower Muslim women but to penalise men. The BJP wants to create a divide between Muslim men and women. We thank all the Muslim women who wrote to us and we won’t let you down.”
She added: “The bill turns instant triple talaq into a crime. The law is not only meant to cause families distress by imprisoning the man for words that the Supreme Court had dismissed as ineffectual anyway, but also aims at criminalising a civil matter. I promise you that Congress will form the government in 2019 and we will repeal this triple talaq law. This is a promise.”
The BJP lashed out at the Congress, calling it the “height of appeasement”.
“The Congress says it will repeal the triple talaq law. What a regressive thought! They have no regard for the Supreme Court,” BJP leader Sambit Patra said.
