Friday last, the government introduced the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, also known as the triple talaq Bill as attempted earlier and as promised in this election manifesto of the BJP with its emphasis on “Sabka Biswas”.
But the reaction of Muslims across the country and also in Jammu Kashmir has been otherwise and shows deep distrust in the new Modi Government. The aggressive manner in which Assaduddin Owaisi, the AIMIM MP from Hyderabad, conducts himself hardly leaves any scope for reconciliation. As an articulate member of the large Muslim community, Owaisi should try and sound reasonable so that the distrust between the two communities is not amplified further.
On its part, the government should sit down yet again with the representatives of the minority community and iron out differences, to allay fears stemming from the proposed talaq Bill.
It will take both sides to reach out to each other instead of dwelling in separate silos and suspecting each other's motives. Of this we see no evidence thus far, especially when the representatives of the largest minority community continue to be publicly hostile to the regime.
In this context, the role of the main Opposition party is obscured in total confusion. It wants not to be seen appeasing the obscurantist elements in the Muslim community and yet is reluctant to support the Bill, arguing against one or the other clause. It is complete idiocy to suggest that the Bill is unacceptable because it is pointed at one community.
However, all available evidence suggests that the Modi-2.0 may not be willing to go the Modi-1.0 way when the Bill had to be relegated to the background following its failure in the Rajya Sabha. The government believes that this time it would be able to get the requisite numbers even in the Rajya Sabha. Meanwhile, it was amusing to witness Owaisi embarrassing the Congress Party by pointedly referring to the anti-women attitude of the ruling party on the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple despite the go-ahead from the apex court.
Remember Ayodhya? In short, no issue, not even of the grotesque practice of triple talaq, is without its pros and cons. It is the duty of the government to move forward by considering the balance of pragmatic wisdom in each case. In the case of triple talaq it is right to want to abolish this barbaric practice.
