All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi protested the passing of an ordinance by BJP-led NDA government at the Centre on Wednesday calling it “unconstitutional”.

Owaisi, a Lok Sabha MP from Telangana’s Hyderabad, said that All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and women organisations should challenge the ordinance in the Supreme Court.

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“This ordinance is against the Muslim women. This ordinance will not provide justice to the Muslim women,” Owaisi was quoted as saying by ANI.

“In Islam, marriage is a civil contract and bringing penal provisions in it is wrong,” said Owaisi.

Alleging that the Ordinance is being made only for Muslims, Owaisi said, “This Ordinance is unconstitutional. The ordinance is against the Constitution’s right to equality as it is being made only for Muslims. All India Muslim Personal Law Board and women organisations should challenge this ordinance in the Supreme Court.”

Earlier today, the Union Cabinet approved an ordinance making triple talaq a penal offence. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad gave the information to the media after the cabinet meeting.

The ‘Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill’ was cleared by the Lok Sabha and is pending in the Rajya Sabha where the government lacks numbers.

“I have said this before – the issue of triple talaq has nothing to do with faith, mode of worship or religion. It is a pure issue of gender justice, gender dignity and gender equality,” Prasad told reporters after the meet.

“Twenty two countries regulated triple talaq, but gender justice was given complete go-by in India due to vote bank politics. Such a barbaric inhuman, triple talaq curse was not allowed to be ended by a Parliamentary law because of ambiguity and vacillation of the Congress party for pure vote bank politics,” he added.

Read More: Cabinet clears ordinance to make triple talaq penal offence

“Triple talaq will be recognised as a crime only when a woman or her blood relative files a complaint with the police. A compromise can be achieved only when the woman is willing and says so to a magistrate. A magistrate can grant bail only after the wife’s consent,” said the Law Minister.