The ministry of minority affairs announced on Saturday that “Muslim Women Rights Day” will be observed across the country on August 1. It will celebrate the second anniversary of the enactment of the law against triple talaq.
The practice of granting instant divorce was classified as a criminal offence through a law enforced by the government on August 1, 2019. Though the Centre faced issues in clearing the bill through the Rajya Sabha, it finally succeeded in achieving the goal on July 31, 2019.
Union minister for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today credited the Bharatiya Janata (BJP) of bringing a law against the malpractice of triple talaq.
He also said that there is a significant decline in triple talaq cases after the law came into effect. “Muslim women across the country have overwhelmingly welcomed this law,” said Naqvi.
The minister added that the Centre has strengthened “self-reliance, self-respect and self-confidence” of the Muslim women of the country and protected their constitutional, fundamental and democratic rights by bringing the law against the triple talaq.
Naqvi, along with women and child development minister Smriti Irani and environment minister Bhupender Yadav will attend a programme in New Delhi on Sunday to observe the “Muslim Women Rights Day”.
Formally called the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, it was the first bill introduced in Parliament after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was re-elected to power in 2019.
The legislation, which outlaws instant triple talaq, stipulates three years jail for violations and also make him liable to pay a fine. The law has made the practice of triple talaq a cognizable offence – one in which the police may carry out an arrest without a warrant.
The opposition parties had targeted the government over the law, stating that it targeted the Muslim community. But the Centre asserted that it helps achieve gender justice for Muslim women.
The Supreme Court had in August 2017 declared the practice of talaq-e-biddat or a form of divorce based on a husband pronouncing divorce thrice in quick succession as unconstitutional. It is banned in most Muslim countries including Pakistan.
