Triple Talaq Bill ‘second assault’ on Muslims; BJP dividing India on religious lines: Mehbooba

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti. (Photo: IANS)


Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, while addressing a press conference in Srinagar on Monday said that the Triple Talaq bill will create more problems for Muslim women as it will disturb the family structure among Muslims.

Mufti said that since she personally faced the problems of a broken marriage, she thought it important that she should speak up on the issue.

“Being a Muslim woman who has gone through a broken marriage, I thought I should speak up on the Triple Talaq bill.

“After separation from her husband, the biggest problem for the woman is to raise her children.

“By bringing in the Triple Talaq bill, the BJP is entering our homes. This will disturb our family life and there will be more problems for women and men economically.

“I have gone through a broken marriage and I feel that women face the biggest challenge economically after her marriage fails.”

Accusing the BJP of dividing India on religious and sectarian lines, Mehbooba Mufti said the bill is the second assault on Muslims after the financial onslaught against them through bans on meat and leather industries.

“After creating division on religious and sectarian lines, BJP now wants to divide Muslim families through Triple Talaq bill. With economic onslaught on Muslims through curbs on meat and leather, the social crisis Triple Talaq bill can cause will impoverish them further.

“When we talk about reservations for Muslims, the BJP rejects it on religious lines. But when it comes to this kind of law, they run to Parliament,” she said.

She said that Muslims always abide by the law hence there should be a consensus on the issue.

“Indian Muslims, and we from Jammu and Kashmir, which is a Muslim majority state, decided to stay with Gandhi’s secular democratic India and let us not convert it into Zia-ul-Haq’s nation.

“Muslims pride themselves for strong family structure and bonding. Same is true of other religions in the East which is considered as an advantage over the Western culture. This bill is a direct assault on that.

Drawing a parallel between the Supreme Court judgments on Triple Talaq and Sabarimala, Mufti said, “Democracy is not run through brute majority, it is about consensus. Muslims accepted the decision of the SC on the invalidity of Triple Talaq, unlike the Sabarimala verdict. Best is to empower Muslim women to be able to face the world independently in case of a breakup.”

(With agency inputs)