Triple talaq bill draconian, ambiguous: Women activists

A group of women activists today said it rejected the Centre's triple talaq bill, holding that it was "draconian" as well as "ambiguous".
As President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for its early passage in the Budget Session of Parliament, Asma Zehra, convener of the Hyderabad-based Muslim Mahila Reasearch Kendra, said the bill went against the interests of women and children.
"The bill is draconian as a civil matter is converted into a criminal offence and the husband is sentenced to jail for three years. It is anti-women and anti-children as there is no mention of maintenance and it is anti-social," she said.

The 'Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill' criminalising talaq-e-biddat (instant divorce) was passed by the Lok Sabha in the recently concluded Winter Session of Parliament but is pending in the Rajya Sabha.
According to the draft law, which would be applicable to the entire country except Jammu and Kashmir, an instant talaq would attract a jail term of three years and a fine. It would be a non-bailable offence.
The bill was "ambiguous" and lacked legal coherence, Zehra, who is also a member of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), said at a press conference here.

The press meet, held ahead of an all-India women NGOs' meet on the triple talaq bill, was also addressed by other activists.

"The wording of the bill is such that there will be confusion in dealing between cases of a talaq and a triple talaq," Zehra said, adding, "We reject it."
In his maiden address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, Kovind said he was hopeful that the bill would be passed so that Muslim women could live with "dignity". Prime Minister Modi also pressed for an early passage of the bill.
The Supreme Court had on August 22 last year struck down triple talaq, calling the practice unconstitutional and in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which provides for equality before the law.