Cong tight-lipped on triple talaq stand

The Congress on Tuesday was in a fix on joining other Opposition parties in pressing for the referral of the triple talaq bill to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha for closer scrutiny.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha, is expected to come up for consideration in the Rajya Sabha where non-Congress Opposition parties have urged chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to refer it to a select committee.

"Our stand will be decided on Wednesday morning," a senior Congress leader said.

The Narendra Modi government, however, appeared in no mood to accede to the demand and is expected to push for a vote to have it passed in the Upper House on Wednesday, paving the way to make it a law.

"The Opposition parties have to take a clear stand. Either they are for the bill or against it," a senior minister said.

The bill makes instant triple talaq a criminal offence and proposes a three-year jail term for any Muslim man who divorces his wife by uttering 'talaq' thrice.

'Confused' stand

Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi took a dig at the Congress for what he called was its "confused" stand.

"The Congress takes one step forward and then 10 steps back. The party is confused on triple talaq. Muslim women are happy, but I don't know why the Congress is sad," Naqvi told reporters here.

Keen to shed its 'anti-Hindu' tag, the Congress sought amendments to the bill in the Lok Sabha last week but voted in favour of the government draft.

The Congress is against the three-year jail term provision in the bill for a Muslim man practising triple talaq, arguing that it will only lead to broken families.

"Our stand is clear, the bill should be referred to a select committee," Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav told reporters here.