New Delhi: The landmark bill which makes instant "Triple Talaq" a criminal offence and proposes a three-year jail term, was listed to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha today, but will only be taken up tomorrow now as ruling party BJP attempts to build consensus on passing it in the Upper House, where the government is in a minority. The Lok Sabha passed the bill last week, but it must be passed by both houses to become law. A battle of nerves is on.
Several parties including the Congress, the Left and the two big players from Tamil Nadu, AIADMK and the DMK, favour sending the bill to a Parliament panel called the select committee to review the bill and nuance some provisions that opposition leaders say could end up hurting the interest of Muslim women rather than helping them.
The government, which says the bill is "for the sisters of the Muslim community, for the dignity of women, gender equality," is determined to pass the bill in the winter session, of which three days remain after today.
Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi attacked the Congress this morning for what he called its "confused" stand. "These days a number of reforms are being brought in. The Triple Talaq Bill is one of them...The Congress takes one step forward and then 10 steps back. The party is confused on Triple Talaq," the Minority Affairs Minister said, adding, "Muslim women are happy, but I don't know why the Congress is sad."
Opposition parties met this morning to decide their plan in the Rajya Sabha on the bill, which was passed smoothly last Thursday by the Lok Sabha, where the government has a clear majority. There were only muted protests from opposition parties which put their reservations on record but did not really push for amendments.
The government has been hoping that projecting the Muslim Women Protection of Rights in Marriage Bill 2017 as an instrument that restores the dignity of Muslim women will discourage parties such as the Congress from raising a full-throated objection in the Rajya Sabha too.
In the Rajya Sabha, however, the opposition also has on its side this time parties like the AIADMK and Biju Janata Dal, which usually help the BJP-led government pass key legislation in the upper house. Both parties have said they would like a review of the "Triple Talaq" bill.
Sources in Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress said the party will oppose the bill in the Rajya Sabha over the "criminalisation clause." The party did not oppose it in the Lok Sabha because it knew the bill would be passed anyway given the government's superior numbers, the sources said.
The Congress Party, which had repeatedly urged the government to refer the bill to a standing committee for review before passing the bill in the Lok Sabha, has been been careful to underline that it strongly backs any move to abolish the "Triple Talaq", but wants provisions to be strengthened to effectively safeguard the interests of women.
The Congress and several parties have opposed a provision for a three-year jail term in the bill for a Muslim man who says "talaq" thrice to divorce his wife; they argue that if a man who abandons his family goes to jail, he will not be able to provide for them. There are also concerns that if the law is passed, it would give anyone the right to complain to the police about the "Triple Talaq" to register a case and arrest the man.
