BJP eyes electoral gains ahead of year-end polls
Shah Bano case.
“Leadership of PM Modi is not leadership of Rajiv Gandhi who will buckle under pressure,” said Prasad
The BJP’s stand on triple talaq is expected to appeal to the liberal intelligentsia within the Muslim community as also to the rightwing elements who have berated the Congress for allegedly indulging in “minority appeasement”.
In October, the NDA government had opposed the practice in court, triggering a political debate that resonated in the ensuing Uttar Pradesh elections. After the state polls, BJP leaders claimed that a large number of Muslim women, who were aggrieved by triple talaq, voted for the party.
Professor Badri Nayaran of the GB Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad, said the SC verdict would “benefit” the BJP electorally: “The BJP had got its benefit in the UP elections. It’s a big issue in the Muslim community and could affect their voting pattern. The BJP will certainly gain from it.”
Opinions are, however, divided on whether the triple talaq verdict would benefit the BJP. “Not more than 8-10% of Muslims vote for the BJP. I don’t see the party getting any political mileage out of the ruling.This will go down with people as a verdict of the court,” Professor Sanjay Kumar, director of think-tank Centre for the Study of Developing Society, told HT.
BJP sources were, however, confident that the NDA government’s unequivocal stand against triple talaq would go down well with Muslim women and also put the Congress on the back foot.
“During the Congress regime (in Gujarat), there were riots every six months. Our government talks about 6.5 crore Gujaratis. We work for everyone’s interest: appeasement for none, justice for all,” Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani told HT on Monday. .
In Congress-ruled Himachal , corruption charges against chief minister Virbhadra Singh and a dismal law and order situation have given an impetus to the BJP.
The issue of triple talaq is now likely to feed into the prevailing narrative of the opposition party. It was Shayara Bano who challenged the practice before India’s top court. Shayara, who holds a degree in MA Sociology, was divorced by her husband by pronouncing the word talaq thrice through a letter sent to her on October 15, 2015 when she was visiting her parents’ house. Shayara, who hails from Uttarakhand’s Hempur Daya in Kashipur, filed a petition against triple talaq, halala and polygamy in the Supreme Court on February 23, 2016. After divorcing her, Rizwan, a property dealer in Allahabad, took away her two kids-- due to which she suffered from depression A resident of West Bengal, Ishrat Jahan was divorced by her husband Murtaza through a phone call from Dubai. In April 2015, her husband of 15 years, called and uttered ‘talaq’ thrice before hanging up. Murtaza had allegedly married another woman and took away their four children with him. “I am very happy at the judgement. The apex court issued the right directive. Now, I hope to get justice,” said Jahan. She added that she was not against divorce, but wanted the process to be fair. Afreen Rehman got married in 2014 after finding a match through a matrimonial portal. However, after a couple of months, she alleged, her in-laws started mentally harassing her for dowry. Later, they even started beating her and in September 2015 they asked her to leave their house, she alleged. She went back to her parents’ home and received a letter via speed post announcing talaq in January 2016. “It’s a beginning towards the abolition of triple talaq in the country.” Atiya Sabri, a resident of Uttar Pradesh is the last petitioner in the case. Her husband Wajid Ali – they were married in 2012 - sent her a piece of paper announcing he was divorcing her. It was sent to her brother’s office in November 2015.She approached the Supreme Court in January this year challenging the divorce and said that triple talaq violates fundamental rights of women. She has two daughters, aged four and three. She alleged that after her second daughter, her in-laws tried to poison her. Gulshan Parveen of Rampur in Uttar Pradesh filed a petition in Supreme Court asking for abolishing triple talaq. In 2015, she alleged her husband sent her a talaqnama on a Rs 10 stamp paper when she was at her parents’ home. The literature postgraduate said she was subjected to domestic violence by him for dowry for over two years. “My husband felt like it one fine day and suddenly both my two-year-old son Ridan and I were homeless,” she was quoted as saying.
BJP’S STAND AGAINST TRIPLE TALAQ IS LIKELY TO APPEAL TO MUSLIM INTELLIGENTSIA AND RIGHTWING ELEMENTS WHO HAVE ACCUSED CONG OF APPEASING MINORITY COMMUNITIES
The top court made the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan a party in the case after taking cognisance of a survey which said 92% of Muslim women want abolition of triple talaq. Led by Zakia Soman, the Mumbai-based autonomous body has been fighting for citizenship rights of Muslims since it was formed in January 2007. “It’s a balanced decision. Now we expect government to make a law against triple talaq the soonest,” said Naseem Akhtar, outfit’s Jaipur convener