NAGGED BY SHAH BANO CASE, CONG GOES ALONG

The Congress on Thursday said it is all for the legislation introduced in the Lok Sabha that seeks to put a ban on instant Talaq. But it also has some suggestions that will help remove the legal infirmities and strengthen the law further.

It, therefore, wants a Parliamentary standing committee to examine the Bill, so that it can be improved upon. After it has been duly vetted, it can be brought in the next session in deference to Prime Minister Modi's wish of evolving a consensus.

For a party that is still nagged by the Shah Bano case during the Rajiv Gandhi government, Congress is being extremely wary. It was a case that had popped out of nowhere and acquired huge political overtones that ultimately gave a shot in the arm to the BJP and other regional players. No wonder, it is now watching its step lest it alienates Muslims further.

Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters that the Congress

was the first political party to welcome the Supreme Court's decision in August. However, the party has certain reservations about Section 5 of the bill on subsistence allowance to the Muslim women as it does not quantify it; nor does it set parameters or say what percentage of the husband's income should go to the divorced Muslim woman.

The bill also states that the accused will be put behind bars for three years. In this context, the Congress endorses a view of many woman organisations that the woman and her children will be left in the lurch; also who will give them maintenance or subsistence allowance if the husband goes to jail. Surjewala suggested a specific provision in this regard to enable the woman to get money from the property of a husband if he is sent to jail.

"The government should think that if the man, on whom the responsibility of giving allowance and maintenance has been put, is jailed, then how will the children and woman receive the service and who will be then responsible of providing that amount? Also, it is not mentioned if the woman can get hold of the property of her husband who has been arrested. If the husband does not have any property then how will the woman and children survive? These points have to be considered by the government to look into the welfare of the women," he pointed out.