Law Against Triple Talaq Strengthened Self-reliance Among Muslim Women: Mukhtar Naqvi Says 82% Decline In Cases In One Year

Triple talaq was given "political patronage" by "merchants of vote bank", and it was the Narendra Modi government that made it a criminal offence thus bolstering self-reliance and self-confidence among Muslim women, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Friday.

Addressing Muslim women from across the country via a video link at an event marking the first anniversary of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, Naqvi said after the enactment of the law, triple talaq cases have come down drastically.

The Modi government is committed to political empowerment and not "political exploitation", he said.

Naqvi said August 1 is the day on which Muslim women were freed from the social evil of triple talaq and it has been recorded in the country's history as 'Muslim Women's Rights Day'.

In an apparent dig at the Congress, Naqvi said triple talaq or 'talaq-e-biddat' was "neither Islamic, nor legal", but despite that, the social evil was given "political patronage" by "merchants of vote bank".

The law against triple talaq could have been passed in the 1980s when the Supreme Court had given a historic judgement in the Shah Bano case, he said.

"The Congress had an absolute majority in Parliament with more than 400 out of 545 Lok Sabha members and more than 159 out of 245 members in the Rajya Sabha. But the Rajiv Gandhi government used its strength in Parliament to make the Supreme Court judgement ineffective and deprive Muslim women of their constitutional and fundamental rights," he said.

The Modi government made the law against triple talaq to make the Supreme Court's judgement effective, Naqvi said.

"A year has gone by since the law against triple talaq was passed and there is about 82 per cent decline in triple talaq cases thereafter. If any such case was reported, action was taken under the law," Naqvi said.

Naqvi added that there has been 82 per cent decline in triple talaq cases since the bill was passed last year.