BJP's Bishnu Sethi defends statement on triple talaq

BJP MLA and the party's Deputy Leader in Odisha Assembly, Bishnu Sethi on Thursday said Congress was unnecessarily creating problems on his statement on the ordeals faced by women who were given triple talaq.

Sethi had earlier claimed that Muslim women who are given triple talaq by their husbands are forced into prostitution - a statement he faced flak for.

Speaking to ANI, Sethi said there was nothing wrong in what he said.

"There is nothing wrong in what I said, even in Pakistan and Bangladesh they don't have triple talaq. This is not a matter of BJP, the Supreme Court passed a guideline and BJP implemented it, what's wrong in that? Victims of triple talaq are our daughters too, there are many reports which point towards this."

Congress MLA Narasingha Mishra, however, said the BJP was a "communal party" and its leaders used these words in the House to inflame the situation.

"BJP is known everywhere as a communal party, even though they deny it their actions prove otherwise. They use such nasty topics against a community which may increase communal tension and set fire in the state," Mishra said.

"There are many things which are mentioned in books, they are presented in a different context in the books. But it is not necessary to say them in the Assembly," he added.

Earlier today, President Ram Nath gave his nod to the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage), Bill, 2019, which criminalises instant 'triple talaq' among Muslims and attracts a jail term of three years for the husband.

The President's approval came two days after the Rajya Sabha passed the triple talaq bill after rejecting the Opposition's demand to refer the Bill to the Select Committee and to remove the criminality clause which provides for jailing the husband for three years for pronouncing 'triple talaq' to his wife.

The Bill was passed with 99 members in its favour while 84 members voted against it in the final division. In the division on referring the Bill to the Select Committee, the government got 100 votes while 84 voted against it.

With the President's approval, the Bill has become an Act.

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