The Congress on Thursday said that it will abolish the triple talaq law if it comes to power after 2019 polls. The triple talaq law criminalises the Muslim practice of instant divorce.

“The Congress party stood up and opposed it in Parliament. I am promising you, when the Congress comes to power after 2019 elections, we will abolish this triple talaq law,” Congress leader Sushmita Dev was quoted as saying by PTI at the national convention of the AICC minority department in New Delhi on Thursday.

In December 2018, a bill to make instant triple talaq a penal offence was introduced in Lok Sabha to replace an ordinance issued in September. Under the proposed law, instant triple talaq will be illegal and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.

The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha and pending in the Rajya Sabha.

Sushmita Dev, the chief of the Congress’s wonem’s wing, praised women for carrying out signature campaigns against the triple talaq law. “A lot of people told us that women will be empowered if the triple talaq bill is passed. But we opposed that law because it is a weapon that Narendra Modi ji has prepared to put Muslim men in jail and make them stand in police stations,” she added.

The BJP hit back at the Congress and said their stand was nothing but “minority appeasement”. They have no regard for the Supreme Court,” said BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra.

The government has maintained that despite the Supreme Court striking down the practice of instant triple talaq as unconstitutional, men were divorcing their wives on flimsy grounds and even via WhatsApp.

The opposition has said divorce cannot be made a penal offence and the provisions of the bill are against basic principles of the Constitution.

First Published: Feb 07, 2019 16:57 IST