Muslim women: Triple talaq cases down 80%, says Naqvi
Avya Mathur
New Delhi: Within two years of the law against triple talaq, which Parliament passed on July 30, 2019, the number of divorce cases involving Muslim women has come down by around 80 percent, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here on Sunday.
Before Parliament passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, which came into effect on August 1, 2019, Uttar Pradesh had more than 63,000 divorce cases. These have now come down to just 221. In Bihar, only 49 cases were recorded, he said.
Now triple talaq is a criminal offense envisaging imprisonment of up to three years and a fine to the offending man while the victim woman could demand alimony for her and her minor children.
Speaking at an event marking the Muslim Women Rights Day 2021, he said the Modi Government had declared August 1 as the day to celebrate the law giving Muslim women their rights.
The Act was passed after Muslim women like Shah Bano Begum and Shayara Bano urged the Supreme Court to declare triple talaq, polygamy, and Nikah Halal as unconstitutional practices violating Articles 14-15, 21, and 25 of the Constitution of India. The apex court also declared it unconstitutional, paving the way for Parliament to enact the law.
Naqvi said the Muslim women across the country overwhelmingly welcomed this new law. The government strengthened the self-reliance, self-respect, and self-confidence of the Muslim women of India. It also protected their constitutional, fundamental, and democratic rights.
“There is an 80 percent decrease in divorce cases in UP since the implementation of the law,” he added.
Those present on the occasion included Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav, and representatives of various organizations.
Egypt was the first Islamic country to ban social evil in 1929, followed by Syria (1953), Pakistan (1956), Iraq (1959), Malaysia (1969), and Bangladesh (1972). Other countries that also banned it included the UAE, Morocco, Cyprus, Iran, Jordan, Brunei, Algeria, Brunei, and Qatar.
