India's Parliament passed a contentious bill on Tuesday (30 July) to ban and criminalise the ability of Muslim men to get an instant divorce by uttering the word “Talaq” three times. It will now go to the President for approval, before coming into force.
The contentious clauses in the bill are, (i) it is a cognisable offence; (ii) it is a non-bailable and the husband can be jailed and denied bail and (iii) it provides for a subsistence allowance a Muslim man must provide to his divorced wife and children.
The upper house of Parliament, Rajya Sabha passed the bill on Tuesday with 99 votes in favour and 84 against, after it sailed through the lower house of Parliament, Lok Sabha.
India’s Supreme Court had in its judgement in August 2017 ruled the practice of triple talaq “unconstitutional”. The court also had asked the government to frame a new divorce legislation to replace the abolished practice.
President Ram Nath Kovind termed the passage of the bill as “A milestone in the quest for gender justice.”
Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s President and Home Minister of India, Amit Shah commented, “Prime Minister has fulfilled his commitment and ensured a law to ban Triple Talaq, which will free Muslim women from the curse of this regressive practice.
Social media has been abuzz with posts hailing the passage, as also some against.
Another section questioned the move, when the top court of the country had already declared the regressive practice as unconstitutional. They alleged, the government is not interested in gender equality for Muslim women, but only politics over them.