Trinamool Congress MLA and West Bengal Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind President has described the Supreme Court verdict on instant triple talaq “unconstitutional” saying that the court and the government have no right to “interfere in internal matters of Islam”.
Chowdhary, who is also the Library and Mass Education Minister in the Mamata government, said, “The verdict given by the Supreme Court is unconstitutional and we will not abide by it. Our central committee will meet today in Delhi to decide our future course of action in this regard.”
He added that triple talaq is “mentioned in Quran, and we will abide by it”.
He even went on to blame the BJP government for banning triple talaq and said they would move a review petition before the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court. He said Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind does not accept this verdict and will continue with triple talaq. He further added that only minuscule population, about 3 percent of Muslim population, suffer from triple talaq. However, he did acknowledge that these views are his and not of Trinamool Congress.
Earlier, TMC ministers Partha Chatterjee and Firhad Hakikm had opposed the uniform civil code in favour of triple talaq. They had taunted the BJP for falling short of requisite numbers in the Rajya Sabha to bring about a change in existing laws.
On Tuesday, in a landmark judgement, the apex court had abolished the practice of instant triple talaq, calling it arbitrary and against the tenets of Islam. And while most hailed it as a victory and considered it as an empowering step for Muslim women, a lot seemed unhappy about it.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is quick to react to all quick developments, has maintained silence over this verdict even as she welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on Right to Privacy being a fundamental right.
