Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says the Bill did nothing to benefit Muslim women
New Delhi: The government on Friday introduced The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 banning Triple Talaq in the Lok Sabha amid criticism that it will harm Muslim families and was discriminatory. The opposition requested Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for a division during its introduction. It was introduced after 186 MPs voted in favour while 74 voted against it. While introducing it, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that only 31 cases of Triple Talaq had been noted after an ordinance on the issue was issued.
That’s the point. We aren’t defending triple talaq. We are opposing a law that does nothing to protect Muslim women but punishes Muslim men. It criminalizes their divorces, but exempts other men who desert their families w’out taking responsibility. That’s discriminatory. https://t.co/4NpjaUIl02
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 21, 2019
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi sought a division during its introduction. Owaisi said that abandoning a wife attracted up to one year jail term under the Hindu Marriage Act and wanted to know why Muslim men had to undergo harsher punishment for the same crime. Congress’ Shashi Tharoor and Revolutionary Socialist Party’s N.K. Premachandran also spoke against it. Tharoor said the Bill did nothing to benefit Muslim women. “Instead of protecting Muslim women, the Bill criminalises Muslim men.”
Premachandran said the Bill violated Article 32 of the Constitution and added that marriage disputes should not be put in the purview of criminal act. While the Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha earlier, it lapsed as the Lok Sabha elections took place. It is the first Bill to be introduced in the 17th Lok Sabha.
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