Three cheers for historic judgement

VICTORY FOR MUSLIM WOMEN Cutting across party lines, leaders hail top court verdict, while those who fought for a logical end feel relieved BJP eyes electoral gains as Cong goes on back foot

NEW DELHI:

The Supreme Court judgement to strike down the Islamic divorce practice of instant triple talaq on Tuesday comes as a shot in the arm for the BJP-led NDA government ahead of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls later this year.

The BJP is likely to showcase the verdict as a vindication of its stand against triple talaq as a practice that violates the principles of gender justice and equality. While development, or the lack of it in opposition-ruled states, has been the BJP’s central poll plank , rivals have accused it of stoking Hindutva sentiments.

The party’s stand on triple talaq is likely to appeal to the liberal intelligentsia within the Muslim community as also to the right-wing elements who have berated the Congress for indulging in “minority appeasement”.

“It’s the victory of Muslim women’s right to equality .... I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government for putting forth Muslim women’s side in the court prudently,” party president Amit Shah tweeted after the verdict.

In October, the NDA government had opposed the practice in court, triggering a political debate that resonated in the ensuing Uttar Pradesh polls.

After the state elections, BJP leaders claimed that a large number of Muslim women, who were aggrieved by triple talaq, voted for the party.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath said recently that the “silence” (of opposition leaders) on triple talaq reminded him of Draupadi’s “cheer haran” (disrobing) in the Mahabharata.

Professor Badri Nayaran of the GB Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad, said the SC verdict would “benefit” the Bharatiya Janata Party 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 Bharatiya Janata Party will certainly gain from it,” he told HT.

Since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has been guarded in its reaction to issues concerning the minority community.

BJP’S STAND AGAINST TRIPLE TALAQ IS LIKELY TO APPEAL TO MUSLIM INTELLIGENTSIA AND RIGHTWING ELEMENTS WHO HAVE ACCUSED CONG OF APPEASING MINORITY COMMUNITY

Senior Congress leaders were of the view that their rivals were successful in projecting the party as a pro-minority group that cost it dearly in state polls.

The thinking in the party was betrayed by the aggressive showcasing of vice president Rahul Gandhi’s visits to temples in the social media.

In Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh, corruption charges against chief minister Virbhadra Singh and a dismal law and order situation in the state— highlighted by the rape-murder of a minor student on the outskirts of Shimla recently—have given a big handle to the BJP to beat the ruling Congress with.

The issue of triple talaq is now likely to feed into the prevailing narrative of the opposition party.

With the Bharatiya Janata Party running away with the electorally potent issue, the Congress seems to be on a damage-control mode, especially after the party faced many questions over senior leader Kapil Sibal representing in court the All India Muslim Personal Law Board which had defended triple talaq as a matter of faith.

The grand old party will, however, need to do much more to establish its progressive credentials that had taken a hit following the Rajiv Gandhi government’s decision to dilute the SC in the Shah Banu case.