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Congress favours triple talaq to keep its vote bank intact, says Amit Shah
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday called passing of the Triple talaq bill, that abolishes the practice of instant talaq, the most historic decision of the BJP government taken in five years of its governance.
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday called passing of the Triple talaq bill, that abolishes the practice of instant talaq, the most historic decision of the BJP government taken in five years of its governance.
Addressing a gathering in Mavlankar Hall, Constitution Club of New Delhi on the topic 'Abolition of Triple Talaq: Correcting a Historic Wrong' on Sunday, BJP president said that although there was no doubt in anyone's mind that triple talaq was a malpractice, but vote bank politics adopted by the previous governments allowed for such malpractices to evolve.
Shah launched an attack on Congress, which had heavily opposed the bill in Parliament, and said that parties getting elected on the basis of politics of appeasement and adopting shortcuts made them indifferent to the negative consequences of such malpractices.
Stating that the fight against Triple talaq has been going on since years, the Home Minister said it was a practice to deny crores of Muslim women which stripped them off basic dignity and right to equality. Shah further said that years ago Shah Bano fought a fight against the "evil practice" and challenged it into the Supreme Court (SC). On 23 April 1985, SC gave the order in favour of her, and abolished triple talaq while maintaining that giving maintenance was mandatory and a reason must be given for talaq. However, Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government bowed down to the pressure of its orthodox vote bank and overturned the apex court's order.
Hailing the people of India who voted BJP into power in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Shah said, "the election of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister in 2014 was the beginning of the end of politics of appeasement and the 2019 mandate is to end it forever."
Pointing out that BJP government is often criticised for passing the triple talaq bill while going against the Muslim sentiment, the BJP president reiterated that bill is only for the benefit of the women belonging to the Muslim community, and not for any other community.
Coming down heavily on the Congress, Shah said the party had "no shame" and continues to oppose the law criminalising triple talaq.
The bill that criminalises instant triple talaq was passed in Parliament's monsoon session.