Triple Talaq edict murder of democracy: AIMPLB

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Thursday alleged the ordinance making instant triple talaq a punishable offence is a murder of democracy, and said it is exploring legal options to challenge the move. It said the government did not bother to discuss the issue in Parliament and it's an insult to the country's supreme legislative body. Even AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi came down heavily on the ordinance. 

Describing the 'triple talaq' ordinance a "fraud", Owaisi said it should be challenged in court. "I personally feel there is a need to challenge this ordinance in court... This is a wrong ordinance. It is a fraud... There are mistakes," Owaisi said. According to Owaisi, the ordinance is the Bharatiya Janata Party's "technique" to divert people's attention from the Rafale issue, Nirav Modi, Mehul Chowksi and rising petrol prices. 

Speaking to reporters in Hyderabad, AIMPLB assistant general secretary Maulana Khalid Saif Ullah Rehmani



said, "This ordinance is a 'chor darwaza'. It's a murder of democracy and an insult to Parliament. The Parliament session is to start... but the government did not even bother to discuss... We feel it will be harmful to Muslim women."

The Maulana said it's strange that no consultations were held with the community and "you (government) decided on it yourself. Rather than rendering justice, injustice will be meted out through this ordinance". Asked if the board will move the Supreme Court against the ordinance, Rehmani said, "Our legal committee will discuss and may consider it (legal options)." 

President Ram Nath Kovind had last Wednesday signed the ordinance making instant triple talaq illegal and void. The offence will attract a jail term of three years for the husband. Seeking to allay fears that the law could be misused, the government also included some safeguards in it, such as providing for bail to the accused.