Triple Talak – How Anti-BJP Opposition Failed Muslim Women, Yet Again!

The long awaited Triple Talak bill was passed on December 27, 2018 in Lok Sabha by a margin of 245-11.  The sad thing is that the entire opposition is against the bill which seeks to empower the Muslim women.

There is a thinking that BJP may call for a Joint Session of Parliament, but that may also leave it 40 votes short due to the new make up of the Rajya Sabha.

When people ask why BJP cannot pass the bills despite such a big majority in Lok Sabha, this bill showcases the challenge.  Majority in Rajya Sabha is a must as well.  Unless BJP gets majority in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, most of the real changes that are needed will not happen!

As was seen in the proceedings, almost all the opposition parties walked out and refused to vote for the bill. And, folks like Assauddin Owaisi and other self appointed Seculars have been using the fig leaf of the situation in Sabarimala, where the Hindu community is fighting the Supreme Court judgment.

False Equivalence Arguments

The reason why Sabarimala situation is not the same as Triple Talak is because in case of Sabarimala the Hindu women devotees of Ayappa themselves are protesting the SC ruling and the recent movement with 4 million of them coming out and standing in protest across Kerala and Tamil Nadu was proof enough.  The whole Sabarimala fight is by non-Hindu and activist women who have no relevance for temples or its ways!  Meanwhile, in case of Triple Talak, it is the Muslim women who have fought for their rights.

Let us see this in these two videos which are self explanatory!  The first one is the discussion of Muslim women in Tarek Fatah’s program “Fateh ka Fatwa” on Zee TV, where they are having a debate with the Maulanas.  One can see where the two genders sit on this issue within the Muslim community.

And then there are the voice of women who are Ayappa devotees.  It is they who are the forefront of the whole movement!

These are the protests where approximately 4 million people across Kerala and Tamil Nadu – from Kasargod to Kanya Kumari lined up with just lamps in their hands over a stretch of 795 kms.

Now, that the basic “Whataboutery” argument of the likes of Owaisi is put in context, let us discuss the Triple Talak bill.

Powerful statements by Smriti Irani and Ms. Lekhi

Two statements by women MPs from BJP stood out – Smriti Irani and Meenakshi Lekhi.

Here is the statement by Meenakshi Lekhi.

And this is the statement by Smriti Irani, who tore into the opposition’s camp!

Shah Bano repeated

In 1985, the Supreme Court had given Shah Bano, a Muslim woman the right to get maintenance even after the “iddat” period.  The case was a landmark for the rights of the Muslim women.  YV Chandrachud had made a profoundly powerful statement.

But this did not go well with the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and his Congress government.  Even then, the Congress failed the Muslim women.  Congress then brought the Muslim Women (Protection on Divorce Act), 1986 – which over-turned the ruling and restricted the maintenance to ONLY the iddat period.

Even today, 33 years after Shah Bano, the Congress is still standing well entrenched, against the Muslim women!

Conclusion: When appeasement of Communal Fanaticism is your mojo, why feign Secularism?

Whether it was Shah Bano or now the Triple Talak bill, the Congress and opposition has always been against social reforms in the name of religious “tolerance”.  The fact is that there is no tolerance in fanaticism and vote banks.  The need to subjugate women has been strong in Islam.  Like Imam Tawhidi says – Islam is a religion for men.  Reforms are a must.

The obvious appeasement of fanaticism of Congress and the opposition parties is for all to see.  What shocks one is the complete silence and the acquiescence of every so-called liberal Muslim and India’s mainstream media.  No long articles and no one like Naseeruddin Shah, Hamid Ansari or Shahrukh Khan coming out saying that the stand and betrayal by the Congress and Opposition parties is shameful.  Yet, if you ask them, they are very prone to say – reluctantly, albeit – that they are for Triple Talak and that it is against Islam.  And, these are the very people who keep playing their double game with complete impunity!  Because no one asks them as to who will fight for the Muslim women when their silence rewards the mullahs?

Let there be no ambiguity.  In this Triple Talak fight there are ONLY two sides – Suffering and Subjugated Muslim women Vs Fanatic Mullahs.  There is no other side to this debate.  And, if you are publicly silent in the face of Congress and Opposition’s proxy battle for the Fanatic Mullahs, then you are against the Suffering and Subjugated Muslim women.  For, to acquiesce to the stalling of the Triple Talak bill is to reward the Mullah and his fanaticism.  So, a private euphoria and “rejection” of Triple Talak will not work!  It will ensure that it remains intact and many other women face the same humiliation!