Muslim men use triple talaq to satisfy lust: UP minister

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Swami Prasad Maurya has triggered a controversy by allegedly saying that Muslim men abuse triple talaq to change wives and satisfy their “lust”.

His purported remark led to the All India Muslim Women’s Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) demanding his resignation on Saturday.

“To fulfil their lust, they (Muslim men) frequently change their wives through triple talaq. Such men, when they leave their wives and their own children on the streets to beg, then neither you nor anyone else will term it as good,” said Maurya, addressing the reporters in Basti on Friday night. Maurya’s statement comes at a time when there is a raging debate over triple talaq. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have also spoken on the issue.

“The BJP is with all such women who are the victims of triple talaq. We will restore their honour and get them justice,” he said. Maurya left the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ahead of the 2017 UP assembly election and won the Padrauna assembly seat in eastern Uttar Pradesh on the BJP ticket. He is the minister for labour, employment and coordination in the Yogi Adityanath government. Maurya was in Basti to participate in a function at the house of a local BJP leader.

In Lucknow, AIMWPLB president Shaista Amber said, “Where on the one hand, Muslim women are fighting injustice, cabinet ministers like Swami Prasad Maurya are making such obnoxious statements. He should be given strict punishment and be sacked. I will appeal to Yogi ji to send Maurya to a mental asylum.”

Claiming that he had humiliated Muslim women with his statement, Amber appealed to the government that he should be taught how to respect women.