Rajya Sabha too passes Bill tacitly supported by Opp walkout
The controversial practice of triple talaq is a criminal offence now. The contentious Bill to ban triple talaq — the practice of Muslim men instantly divorcing their wives by uttering “talaq” thrice — had a smooth passage in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday with a strategic floor management by the Treasury Benches. The practice will now be punishable by jail term up to three years.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill was passed by 99 votes in favour and 84 against. The ruling NDA, which lacks majority in the Upper House, was helped by the absence of some members of the Opposition Congress, SP and BSP as well as six members of TRS (TRS) and two MPs of YSR Congress. The ruling NDA has 107 members in the 242-member Rajya Sabha.
Four Congress MPs —Vivek Tankha, Rajiv Bishwal, Mukud Medhi, Pratap Bajwa — were absent during the vote. Independent MP KTS Tulsi too did not vote, even though he had moved amendments to the Bill. RJD’s Ram Jethmalani and NCP’s Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel were some of the other prominent names absent.
The AIADMK, along with the TRS and the JD(U), walked out terming the Bill “unconstitutional” thus bringing down the majority mark in the Rajya Sabha. The BJD, however, extended support to the Bill.
The same strategy had helped the Government push through the contentious amendment to the Right To Information (RTI) Act last week despite lacking numbers in the Upper House.
The Triple Talaq Bill could not make it through the Upper House in the first term of the Narendra Modi Government, although it was passed by the Lok Sabha twice.
The Bill was again passed by the Lok Sabha last week amid a walkout by several Opposition parties, including the Congress and the TMC.
Hailing the passage of the Bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that a historic wrong done to Muslim women has been corrected and an “archaic and medieval practice confined to the dustbin of history”.
“This is an occasion to salute the remarkable courage of those Muslim women who have suffered great wrongs just due to the practice of triple talaq,” said Modi in his tweet message. He added that the abolition of the practice will contribute to women empowerment and give women the dignity they deserve in our society.
The House rejected an Opposition sponsored motion to send the Bill to a Rajya Sabha Select Committee with 100 votes against it as compared to 84 in favour. Once granted assent by the President, the Bill will replace an Ordinance promulgated on February 21 to the same effect as the Bill.
Replying to a four-and-half-hour debate on the Bill, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad cited jail provisions in the legislations that ban dowry and multiple marriages by Hindu men to justify the three-year jail term for Muslim men practising triple talaq.
To Ghulam Nabi Azad, who termed the Bill a politically motivated move to destroy Muslim households with domestic fights, the Minister said the Congress leader should think of why his party could never win majority following the peak of 400-plus seats it won in 1984.
He saw the 1986 Shah Bano case, where the Congress did not stick its neck out to support women rights, as the main reason for the downfall of the party. The law, he said, was not being brought due to the Supreme Court ruling of 2017 declaring talaq-e-biddat, commonly referred to as instant triple talaq, unconstitutional.
“I am a Minister of the Narendra Modi Government and not the Rajiv Gandhi Government,” he said citing the Shah Bano case of 1986. He said he cannot leave in lurch women who have been divorced by triple talaq via WhatsApp or other such means.
On Opposition charge of targeting Muslims, he said the BJP may be getting a little less votes from the community but it considers them very much a part of the country and works on the principle of “sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas”. “More than 20 Islamic nations have regulated triple talaq,” he said.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Azad said the Opposition has been forced to vote against the Bill after the Government did not accept their demand to send it to a select committee and make triple talaq a civil offence.
Home Minister Amit Shah too hailed the passage of the triple talaq Bill by Parliament, saying the legislation will free Muslim women from the “curse of this regressive practice”. He also described the passage of the Bill by the Rajya Sabha as a great day for India’s democracy.
