Adamant Opp sticks to guns
The Opposition parties led by the Congress put up a united front in the Rajya Sabha on Monday to thwart the Government move to pass the contentious triple talaq Bill. While the Government pressed for a discussion on the Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill 2018 after Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tabled the Bill, the Opposition stuck to its demand for sending the Bill to a select committee of Parliament.
After the passage of the Bill in the Lok Sabha last week, Opposition members convened a meeting on Monday before the legislation was to be introduced in the RS
In view the tough stand taken by the Opposition, it’s unlikely that the triple talaq Bill will become a law during the winter session of Parliament.
The Opposition parties have written to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, demanding that the triple talaq Bill should be sent to a select committee of the House for consideration and the motion was initiated by Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien. As per the resolution submitted by the Opposition, the Chairman will have to take it up before taking up the triple talaq Bill for discussion.
The resolution has been signed by Congress, NCP, TDP, RJD, AAP, SP, BSP, DMK, CPI and CPM and the AIADMK. The AIADMK has been supportive of the Centre on most issues, but last week it vehemently opposed the passage of the Bill in its present format in the Lok Sabha.
The Opposition meeting, chaired by Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, was attended among others by leaders of 12 Opposition parties, including Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav, TMC’s Derek O’Brien, CPI’s D Raja, Kerala Congress’ Jose K Mani.
Sources present in the meeting said that most of the parties present in the meeting were of the view that the Bill needs to be sent to the select committee.
DMK leader K Kanimozhi said her party had been consistent in its position against “criminalisation” of triple talaq.
“We are opposing jail punishment for pronouncing talaq. Even the Islamic tenets do not allow instant triple talaq. We will vote against the Bill and it is the stand of the DMK that it (Bill) be referred to a select committee,” she later told media.
TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu made an appeal to all his MPs to obstruct the harassment of Muslims. “All Opposition parties should fight unitedly against the anti-Muslim attitude of BJP. The Government forcibly imposing triple talaq Bill is a danger for secularism and national integrity,” he said on twitter.
Amid a stalemate between the Government and the Opposition over the issue, the Rajya Sabh failed to transact any significant business during the day. The House was adjourned twice during with an adjournment in the morning following protests by AIADMK members over the Cauvery issue.
Azad said the bill was very crucial and requires further scrutiny and claimed that more than half of the members belonging to several parties have demanded that the Bill be sent to a select committee. He accused the Government of breaking the tradition of sending Bills to select committees for scrutiny before they become a law.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said the Government was ready for a discussion on the issue and accused the Congress of creating hurdles in the passage of the legislation. He said the Congress has already supported the Bill in the Lok Sabha earlier. “The Congress and other parties are only playing politics on this issue which is very important for ensuring the rights of married Muslim women,” he said.
Hitting back, deputy leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma said, “It is the Government which is doing politics. Nobody is opposing the Bill. Let there be legislative scrutiny”. “The Government is misleading the people. If the Bill has been passed without legislative scrutiny in the Lok Sabha then it should not be passed here without referring to select committee. Rajya Sabha is not a rubber stamp,” he said.
Responding to this, Prasad said, “This Bill is very important. We want to discuss it here and are ready to listen to any suggestion. Even after bringing the ordinance, there have been incidents of triple talaq till yesterday (Sunday). It is a question of gender equality...We want to discuss and pass the Bill.”
Deputy Chairman Harivansh said, “I want to run the House. We have agreed for a holiday tomorrow (January 1). The members should allow the House to function today.” As members continued to create a din, the Deputy Chairman adjourned the House for the day till Wednesday.