Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Friday said August 1 should be recorded as “Muslim Women’s Rights Day” in the country as the day marked the anniversary of the law making triple talaq a criminal offence.
Also read: Supreme Court sets aside instant 'talaq’
Mr. Naqvi was addressing a virtual function organised by his Ministry to mark the first anniversary of the passage of Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 . It was attended by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani.
“Several bold and big reforms are a reflection of our honest and effective efforts, which have delivered better results,” he said.
Also read: ‘About 82% decline in triple talaq cases since law enacted by Modi govt’
“August 1 is a day that made Muslim women free from the social evil of triple talaq; It has been recorded in the country’s history as “Muslim Women Rights Day”. August 1 will remain as a golden moment of Indian democracy and parliamentary history,” he observed.
The Modi government, he asserted, had ensured gender equality and strengthened constitutional, fundamental and democratic rights of Muslim women by bringing law against the cruel social evil of triple talaq.
“Triple talaq or Talaq-a-Biddat was neither Islamic nor legal. Despite the fact, it was given ‘political patronage’ by ‘merchants of votes’,” he stated.
Also read: Owaisi criticises triple talaq Bill
“The law against social evil of triple talaq could have been passed in 1986 when the Hon’ble Supreme Court gave the historic judgement in the Shahbano Case. The Congress had absolute majority in Parliament with more than 400 out of 545 Lok Sabha members and more than 159 out of 245 members in the Rajya Sabha. But the then Rajiv Gandhi government used its strength in Parliament to make the Supreme Court judgement ineffective and deprive the Muslim women of their constitutional and fundamental rights,” he said.
Decline in cases
The Modi government made the law against triple talaq to make effective the Supreme Court’s judgement. “One year has passed since the law against triple talaq was passed and there is a decline of about 82 per cent in such cases thereafter. If any such case was reported, the law had taken action,” he noted.
Muslim women from Uttam Nagar and Batla House in New Delhi; Greater Noida, Lucknow and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh; Jaipur in Rajasthan; Mumbai in Maharashtra, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu; and Hyderabad participated in the conference.
