Muslim woman on forefront of instant divorce abolition in India joins BJP

NEW DELHI, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) — Ishrat Jahan, one of the Muslim woman petitioners seeking abolition of Triple Talaq (instant divorce), has joined India’s ruling Bhartiya Janta Party, party functionaries said Monday.
Jahan joined the BJP in India’s eastern state of West Bengal.
“Ishrat Jahan has joined  BJP at our Howrah office during a function on Saturday and she was warmly welcomed in the party,” a BJP local leader Sayantan Basu said.
Ishrat was one of the five petitioners in the Triple Talaq case. Her husband had divorced her over the phone from Dubai in 2014 by uttering Talaq (divorce) thrice.
Last week lower House of Indian parliament (Lok Sabha) passed a bill – Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 – that proposes to make instant divorce locally called Triple Talaq a criminal offence.
“I welcome the central government’s move to pass the Triple Talaq bill. After this, the lives of our next generations are secured, and they will not have to go through the situation we experienced. I have joined BJP not because it is a political party, but because it supported our cause,” local media quoted Jahan as having said.
India’s Supreme Court in August in a landmark judgement described the practice unconstitutional.
Triple Talaq, forms a practice where in a Muslim man was authorised to divorce her wife by uttering word Talaq (divorce) thrice.
Around 22 Muslim countries, including neighboring Pakistan and Bangladesh have abolished Triple Talaq. The practice however was prevalent in India.
The move to abolish Triple Talaq had backing from rightwing Hindu nationalist government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The bill will now be sent to the upper House of Indian parliament (Rajya Sabha) for passage before it is forwarded to the President for his signature to become a law.  Enditem