Modi’s 56-inch chest not reduced an inch, says home minister Rajnath
NEW DELHI: Home minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday the “56-inch chest” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not decreased “an inch” and asserted that there should be no doubt on that score.
He also said if Pakistan does not have the capability to curb terrorist activities in its territory, it should seek India’s help.
Singh was asked by TV anchor Rajat Sharma about Modi’s Lok Sabha election campaign in which he had said that a “56-inch chest” was needed to tackle Pakistan.
“It has not decreased. I am the home minister. I know confidential matters. I have the IB with me. It has not decreased. There should be no doubts on that score. I can only say the 56-inch chest is there,” the channel quoted Singh as saying in a press release.
The home minister said he wanted to give a message to Pakistan that it should curb terrorist activities on its soil.
“If Pakistan feels it does not have the capacity to curb terrorist activities, it should seek assistance from India. If they want, it can happen. They can also seek assistance from other countries of the world,” he said.
Singh said there has been a 52 per cent decline in infiltration from Pakistan in the last two years. The number of security had divorced me in front of the qazi (cleric) who had approved it.
He sent a cheque of `1.25 lakh saying it was my meher (money paid by the groom to the bride that legally belongs to her),” she said.
Masroor returned the cheque and decided to fight him in court. “I am his legally wedded wife. How can he arbitrarily decide to divorce me? What happens to me and my daughter? Don’t we have rights under the Constitution? I left good job opportunities to look after my home and daughter.”
Then there is Talaq Khatoon (name changed), a government school teacher in Patna, who filed a case against her husband for torturing and divorcing her arbitrarily. Her husband is now in jail. Muslim women have come a long way from the time Shah Bano, 62, created a storm in the ’80s by moving the SC seeking alimony. “The court gave a judgment in her favour but the then government turned it down fearing political backlash. Now, these tricks won’t work. The time has come to reform personal law,” said Shaistha Amber, president of the All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board, formed in 2005 to fight for women at the receiving end of such oppressive traditions.
“For the first time in all these years, women are coming out and saying their fundamental rights are being violated,” said Balaji Srinivasan, Shayara Bano’s lawyer. “Beliefs and customs have to give way to fundamental rights. There is an urgent need to reform personal laws, on a war footing.”
That’s easier said than done, though. “There is no question personnel killed by Maoists has come down. On the terror attack in Pathankot, he said it is because of the government’s strategy that the US asked Pakistan to cooperate in the investigation into the attack. The minister said “some papers” on the Ishrat Jehan case were missing.
“Some papers that should have been there in the Home “Some papers that should have been there in the Home Ministry files are not available. I have formed a committee to investigate. We will soon get the committee’s report. It will reveal who is guilty?,” Singh said adding changes were made in the files by persons belonging to Congress because of political reasons.
AMBER COUNTERED THAT ISLAMIC TENETS WERE BEING MISUSED AND ACCUSED THE AIMPLB OF BEING INSINCERE ABOUT THE CAUSE OF WOMEN
of changing personal law. Triple talaq is considered unjust but once said, the process is considered complete and cannot be changed,” said Mufti Aizaz Arshad Kazmi, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB).
Amber countered that Islamic tenets were being misused and accused the AIMPLB of being insincere about the cause of women. “In Islam, women and men have equal rights. The Quran allows three months’ time for reconciliation before divorce but this is not followed. The customs we have don’t match with the tenets of the Quran.”
Kazmi also said incidents of women seeking a ban on triple talaq in the courts were politically motivated. “These are backed by the RSS. Under the garb of triple talaq, they want to rake up uniform civil code.”
“A majority of Muslim women don’t have an issue with such customs,” he insisted. But a survey of 4,710 Muslim women in 10 states by Mumbai-based Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan in 2013 revealed that 92% wanted a ban on oral and unilateral talaq.
A high-level committee set up in 2012 to assess family laws has recommended “a complete ban on oral, unilateral and triple divorce”, amendments in the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939 to make triple talaq and polygamy void and payment of maintenance mandatory after separation or divorce. It submitted its report to the government last July.