GANDHINAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that despite all “obstacles” from fundamentalists and Opposition, his government was committed to bringing a law against the practice of triple talaq to ensure social justice for Muslim women.
“Despite all the obstacles, despite resistance from the fundamentalists and the Opposition, the government is committed to making a law against triple talaq so that our Muslim women get rid of a big insecurity in their social life,” he said here addressing the National Convention of BJP’s Mahila Morcha.
The government had brought the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) last year and got it passed in the Lok Sabha the same day but the Bill was stonewalled in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) lacks majority. The Opposition had expressed serious concerns over making triple talaq a criminal offence.
Under the proposed law, a man could be jailed for up to three years for pronouncing an instant divorce (triple talaq) to his wife, which is legitimate under the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence.
Subsequently, the government brought an Ordinance on the subject in September this year which has to be replaced by law in the current session. Otherwise, it will lapse.
Modi said the government had already done away with the condition of a ‘mehram’ (a male guardian including husband or first blood relations) to accompany a woman on Hajj.
Earlier, Muslim women from India could not go on Hajj alone. The government did away with the condition last year and around 1,300 women performed the Hajj without a mehram.
Speaking at the event, Modi listed a number of schemes that his government has brought for the welfare of women such as Ujjawala and Surakshit Matritva among others.
“Women are at the centre of several flagship programmes of this government…for the first time there are two women in the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS),” he said.
Targeting the Congress, Modi said women’s welfare was never a priority for previous central governments.
“After exploring various options in the last six to seven decades, women in the country reposed faith in the BJP. Previous governments did not do anything to provide even basic facilities to women and (they) just made promises,” he said.
In the last four years, society’s view towards girl children and women empowerment has undergone a positive change, Modi said.
“Eighteen crore of the total Jan Dhan bank accounts belong to women,” he said, adding that the male-female sex ratio has also improved, especially in Haryana which has had a dubious record in the past.
“Besides, women have been inducted as fighter pilots in Air Force. There is a woman officer wing in the Navy. The government passed anti-trafficking bill and capital punishment will be given to rape convicts of minors,” he said. (Agencies)
