Watch: Yogi likens triple talaq to Draupadi's cheer-haran in Mahabharata

People are mum on a contentious issue, Adityanath said, questioning people's silence on the matter

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for "justice" to Muslim women facing triple talaaq, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said people sitting silent on the issue are equally to be blamed as criminals for the condition of divorced women.

Speaking at a book launch on the anniversary of former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, Adityanath likened the situation to the "cheer haran" (disrobing) of Draupadi in the court of Dhratrashtra when many silently watched as she was being humiliated.

"People are mum on such a contentious issue," Yogi said, questioning the silence of people on the matter.

He slammed those who were against uniform civil code, questioning why should there be two laws when the entire country was one.

Adityanath also said that politics should be practised under the constitutional limits and pointed out that the late Chandrashekhar was also a votary of common laws.

The Chief Minister said Chandrashekhar had the courage to speak the truth even if it was bitter and that despite being a socialist by heart he was a spiritual man as well.

The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh has already said that it would get a referendum conducted among Muslim women on the issue of triple talaaq.