Three parties that tilted the scales in favour of the Opposition in the triple talaq debate — the AIADMK, the TDP and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) — remain steadfast in their stand to send the legislation for further study to a select committee.
The TDP, a BJP ally, has only six members in Rajya Sabha. However, their support has brought in more heft to the Opposition campaign. The AIADMK has 13 members while the BJD has eight members in the House.
“We are not against the triple talaq Bill, we only want the clause on criminal prosecution to be amended. We had conveyed the same to the BJP, but it said that without the criminality clause there is nothing left in the Bill,” TDP MP C.M. Ramesh said.
He said there was no possibility of his party changing its stand by the next Parliament session when the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 is likely to be debated again.
The AIADMK, which is not part of the NDA alliance but has all along been sympathetic towards the BJP, will have to listen to the majority demand of sending the legislation to a select committee.
“Our objective is limited, the criminality clause must go. A wedding is a civil contract and any breach of such a contract cannot be a criminal offence,” Rajya Sabha floor leader for the AIADMK, A. Navaneethakrishnan, said.
The BJD has taken a stand distinct from the rest of the Opposition. The party said there was an ambiguity in the Bill that rendered it open to misuse. Clause 3 of the Bill says that triple talaq delivered verbally or in writing or electronically or by “any other means” was problematic, he said. “What do they mean by ‘other means’? This could lead to a policeman or just about any one raising doubt about a marriage,” BJD MP Pratap Keshari Deb said.
