Days after the contentious bill to ban Triple Talaq was passed in Lok Sabha, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, will once again be tabled in the Rajya Sabha at 12 pm on Tuesday, July 30.
The 16th Lok Sabha had passed the bill, but it could not make it through the Rajya Sabha.
The Modi-led BJP government has listed the triple talaq bill for consideration and passage in the Rajya Sabha today. The ruling party has issued a whip to its MPs, asking them to ensure their presence in the House ahead of the tabling of the bill.
The triple talaq bill, which criminalises instant divorce by Muslim men and seeks up to three years jail term for the guilty, will be tabled by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Union Minister of Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad to table "The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 in Rajya Sabha at 12 pm, today. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/a54MsP3xOA
— ANI (@ANI) July 30, 2019
Strongly opposing the bill, the opposition parties including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the DMK have demanded that the bill be sent to a parliamentary committee for scrutiny. However, the BJP government has asserted that the bill is a step towards gender equality and justice.
Meanwhile, few BJP's allies, including the JD(U), have also expressed their reservation about the bill.
The ruling BJP-led NDA enjoys a strong majority in the lower house of the Parliament, but the alliance will face an uphill task in the upper house where opposition parties have a numerical advantage over the treasury benches.
RAJYA SABHA NUMBERS
Strength of Upper House: 238
The majority mark: 120
Parties to stay away from voting: JDU (6), YSRCP (2), AIADMK (12), TRS (6)
Who all are supporting the bill?
BJP (77)
AGP (1)
NPF (1)
RPI (1)
SDF (1)
BPF (1)
SAD (3)
SS (3)
LJP (1)
Independent (4)
Nominated (3)
BJD (7)
Overall = 103
Who all are against the bill?
Congress (48)
TMC (13)
AAP (3)
BSP (4)
SP (12)
DMK (3)
JDS (1)
RJD (5)
NCP (4)
CPI (1)
CPM (5)
IUML (1)
Kerala Mani Congress (1)
PDP (2)
TDP (2)
Independent (2)
Nominated (1)
Overall = 108
On July 25, the triple talaq bill was passed by the Lok Sabha amid a walkout by the Opposition parties. While moving the triple talaq bill for consideration, Ravi Shankar Prasad argued saying that the Muslim women are being divorced by "talaq-e-biddat" despite the August 2017 verdict of the apex court, striking down the instant divorce.
As many as 574 triple talaq cases were reported since January 2017. Following the Supreme Court order, over 300 such cases were reported by the press. "There have been 345 cases of triple talaq after the judgment till July 24. Should we leave these women on roads?" Prasad said, later adding, "I am a minister in the Narendra Modi government, not the Rajiv Gandhi government."
"If 20 Islamic countries -- Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia -- can outlaw Triple Talaq, why can' it be done in India which is a secular country," Prasad asked.
