All-India Muslim Personal Law Board blamed the ‘secular’ parties for the passage of Triple Talaq Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Terming the passage of the bill as a ‘black day in Indian democracy’, the AIMPLB maintained that it would oppose the bill in the Supreme Court.
The AIMPLB said that instead of voting against the bill in Rajya Sabha, the ‘secular’ parties walked out of the Upper House thereby facilitating the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The AIMPLB alleged that the anti-talaq law was politically motivated and hence they would oppose it.
“Secular parties contributed immensely by failing to work out a floor coordination for opposing the bill and walking out from Rajya Sabha at the crucial juncture of vote in the House,” charged AIMPLB secretary Zafaryab Jilani.
“A meeting of the legal committee of AIMPLB will be held soon and we will challenge the legislation in the Supreme Court soon,” Jilani said.
“Targeting Muslims and interfering in their religious affairs is the old agenda of the BJP and they are pursuing it by getting the Bill on Triple Talaq passed from both the Houses of Parliament,” he said.
Jilani claimed that no Muslim woman celebrated the passage of the bill in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, while Muslim leaders registered their protest against it across the country.
AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Wali Rahmani said that they condemn the Union government’s action on behalf of millions of women.
Slamming opposition parties, Rahmani said, “Secular opposition parties have exposed their true colours. We strongly condemn the Congress, RJD, BSP, AIADMK, Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) and YSR Congress. They supported the BJP’s agenda and walked out at the time of voting in the Rajya Sabha.”
The AIMPLB’s stand on instant triple talaq has been uniform and it considers the practice un-Quranic, un-Islamic and anti-women. It has also cleared that the Supreme Court’s ruling on such a divorce being invalid was accepted by the
AIMPLB but it had been objecting the government’s proposal to criminalise an ‘invalid’ practice.
Imam Aishbagh Eidgah and AIMPLB member Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali also termed the triple talaq law as ‘politically motivated’.
He opined that the bill, instead of providing any relief to Muslim women, would work against their interests.
Opposing the bill, vice-chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband, Mufti Abul Kasim Nomani, said, “Triple talaq is an integral part of Shariat and Islam and this should be left to the wisdom of Muslim religious scholars and any legislation by Parliament on Muslim personal law is a direct interference in the religious affairs of Muslims.”