Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday attcked the opposition parties for opposing the Triple Talaq Bill stating that they are afraid of losing a certain set of votes despite the fact the Bill is in line with the constitutional commitment.
"The opposition should help to get the Triple Talaq bill passed. The government has presented the bill with the three amendments, which the opposition has demanded then what is the problem in agreeing to it. Bill is in lines with the constitutional commitment and it will protect Muslim women," he said intervening in the debate on Triple Talaq Bill in the Lok Sabha.
In her speech, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi cited 'Sathi Pratha' and Shah Bano case and said the opposition is now unable to digest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to protect Muslim women by being their brother.
Several Congress, JDS and SP leaders opposed the Bill.
Responding to Lekhi's speech DMK leader Kanimozhi asked why the government is in a rush to pass the bill. "Is there a need to pass the bill that arouses the communal passion?"
She asked the government to pass the women's reservation bill first saying the Triple Talaq Bill was being pushed "without adequate women in the House".
"What laws are you (government) bringing to prevent mob lynching and honour killing? What freedom we have when we can't eat food of our choice and pray the god we prefer?" she asked.
The DMK leader further questioned the bail clause for men in the Bill and said that men's rights are also important.
"What about the rights of Christain and Hindu women? Why no one sends a Hindu man to jail for abandoning his wife?" she asked.
Anubhav Mohanty (BJD) offered his party's support to the bill but said issues like maintenance need to be discussed.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, seeks to criminalize the act of instant divorce among Muslims with a three-year jail sentence.
The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in December last year but lapsed in the Rajya Sabha after the dissolution of the Lower House. The current bill seeks to replace an ordinance for the same which was issued by the cabinet last February.
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