The instant triple talaq bill solution is not criminalisation but including it under the Domestic Violence Act umbrella
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There was little doubt that the instant Triple Talaq Bill would have been passed in the Lok Sabha as it was yesterday because the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a brute majority. The Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) has from the start stated that the instant triple talaq needs to be abolished.
To give the current scenario context, we need to roll back to August 2017 when the Supreme Court ruled triple talaq as void. What we did not have the answer to at that time, what if Triple T was void, then what?
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When the triple talaq practice continued despite the SC verdict, progressive organisations and individuals felt the need for a new law to deal with the problem, even as there were apprehensions that the ruling BJP-led NDA alliance might give a communal twist to it. The Bill on triple talaq has only confirmed our fears.
Today, we see the BJP/NDA government seeking to criminalise the instant triple talaq and putting the man who said these words in jail for three years. This may result in the woman and her children being deprived of a roof above their heads or any kind of economic subsistence for three years. This effectively means punishing the man, and indirectly his family, too, which is more severely punished.
Instead, this should come under the Domestic Violence Act. There are several advantages to this from ensuring speedy justice to this becoming a civil offence. There is also immediate interim relief for the woman. It is only if the husband violates the orders of the court or goes against it that it can be escalated to a criminal offence.
It looks like the Bill is almost certain to be blocked by the Rajya Sabha and we will be back to status quo. It would also work if the matter is referred to a select committee (of multi-party parliamentarians) who can also hear ordinary people and other stakeholders and then take a decision.
Having said that, this smacks of being communally motivated, I have to admit that the BJP government has picked up the 'burning coal' never mind what their motivations are. All the other parties, including the Congress did not address this at all. They allowed BJP to derive political mileage from it. There will surely be more twists before this reaches the end. We stand by our abolish the instant triple talaq stand but reiterate that it should be seen and done through the lens of delivering gender justice.
As told to Hemal Ashar
The writer is convenor, Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy
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