Yogi Adityanath assures aid for triple talaq victims

In an apparent bid to reach out to the Muslim women ahead of the forthcoming by-polls at 11 assembly seats, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday announced financial assistance to the victims of triple talaq.

Speaking at a function here, Adityanath also declared that the state government would take steps to provide other benefits, including insurance cover, to such victims.

He said that the state government would soon come up with a scheme to provide Rs.six thousand annually to the victims of triple talaq.

The chief minister said that the police had been directed to ensure that FIRs were registered in cases of triple talaq. ''There are clear orders to the cops to book the offenders in all such cases,'' Adityanath said.

Adityanath's announcement was being seen here as an attempt to counter the critics after criminalising the triple talaq. Many Muslim scholars had said that making it a criminal offence would prove to be counter-productive in tackling the menace.

Political analysts also viewed the announcement as an attempt by the BJP to reach out to the Muslims and convey the message that the party was not against them. Several victims of triple talaq were present at the function.

''We are not against the Muslims, our opponents try to brand us anti-Muslim so that they continue to electorally exploit the community,'' said a BJP leader, who was present there.

The chief minister also said that the state government would initiate measures to help the Hindu women, who had been ''abandoned'' by their husbands without giving them divorce.

''The state government will make sure that such women (abandoned) get justice,'' he said.