By backing Triple Talaq Bill, Sonia could have washed Shah Bano sins: Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad

In an exclusive chat with India Today, Prasad said Sonia  Sonia had an opportunity to wash the sins of Shah Bano of 1986 by helping to pass the Bill.

Rahul Shrivastava  | Posted by Sonalee Borgohain
New Delhi, January 5, 2018 | UPDATED 20:57 IST

Highlights

  • 1
    Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched a scathing attack on the Congress.
  • 2
    Congress could have washed the sins of the 1986 Shah Bano case by backing Triple Talaq Bill, he said.
  • 3
    Prasad also accused Congress president Rahul Gandhi of political opportunism.

After the contentious Triple Talaq Bill failed to pass the Rajya Sabha test, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched a scathing attack on the Congress by saying that the party could have washed the sins of the 1986 Shah Bano case by backing the legislation.

"Sonia Gandhi had an opportunity to wash the sins of Shah Bano of 1986 by helping to pass the Bill," Prasad said in an exclusive chat with India Today today.

Prasad reminded the Congress that the party then led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had overturned a Supreme Court judgment on Shah Bano, who had asked for maintenance following her divorce in 1986.

"Today, the same party is asking for maintenance," he said. "Can a government bring a law providing for maintenance for women from just one community? It has an obligation to provide to all communities like the Sikhs, the Hindus, the Parsis etc."

The Shah Bano case, which is one of the milestones in Muslim women's struggle for marital rights in India, is about the Rajiv Gandhi government negating a Supreme Court verdict which favoured alimony for a divorced Muslim woman on the advice of Muslim fundamentalists.

The senior BJP leader also attacked the current Congress president Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of political opportunism. "Rahul Gandhi turned janeudhari (holder of sacred Brahmin thread) in Gujarat. See what he has done now."

The Union Minister said his ogvernment is determined to pass the Triple Talaq Bill in the Rajya Sabha when Parliament meets for the Budget session later this month.

"Every Constitutional weapon will be utilised to make it a law. The Bill will be passed, the government is determined," he said.

ALSO WATCH |  Ravi Shankar Prasad on Congress blocking Triple Talaq Bill in Rajya Sabha: Naked vote bank politics