The Triple Talaq issue has been triggering a controversy for years. It is now under review by the Supreme Court. There is no doubt that it is a highly discriminatory and objectionable practice in Muslim society. The provision of instant divorce is a threat to marital relationship and the stability of family life. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is justified in urging Muslims to keep the debate out of politics. The main objection is that only husbands can do it and they control the pursed strings. It has also been said that the shariat does not provide for it. Modi rightly stressed that Indian muslims should show the path to modernity worldwide. Politicising the issue will be utterly wrong whether the BJP does it or the Opposition. A BJP minister in UP, Swami Prasad Mourya raised hackles stating that triple talaq is prompted by lust. Home breaking is not the preserve of muslims. The idea of the lustful muslim has been played up by the Sangh Parivar in the crusade against, ‘love jihad’. Such motivated malignity of BJP ministers and RSS leaders is doubtless a hindrance to enlightened moves made by muslim reformers. The wife of India’s Vice President, Hamid Ansari, Salma Ansari, recently condemned triple talaq.
Many muslim countries have abolished the objectionable practice. In India, the muslim Personal Law Board is responsible for its continuance. It violates the secular spirit of the Indian Constitution. The importance attached to the vote bank by all political parties has so far thwarted the introduction of a Unified Civil Code. The BJP’s current obsession with curtailment of freedom of worship and the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya has stiffened conservative fundamentalist muslim opinion. As Narendra Modi is the leader of the BJP, he appears to be in a cleft stick.
