Aparna Yadav endorses triple talaq bill straying from Samajwadi Party stand, says NCRB data shows women in UP not safe

Lucknow: Contrary to the Samajwadi Party’s stand on the triple talaq Bill, party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav has welcomed the Bill, stating that it is a major move by the government. She added that the bill should also be passed in the Rajya Sabha. [caption id=“attachment_3228290” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Aparna Yadav. PTI.[/caption] Yadav’s views are in contradiction to her party’s official stand on the issue which had alleged that the Bill is an attempt by the BJP to politicise the issue. On 27 December, during the triple talaq debate in Lok Sabha, Samajwadi Party’s Dharmendra Yadav said triple talaq was a social issue and the BJP was trying to politicise the matter. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2018 was passed by the Lower House with 245 MPs voting in favour and 11 opposing it . Other than the Samajwadi Party legislators, the AIADMK, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress MPs walked out. While talking to ANI on Friday, Aparna praised the Centre’s effort in passing the Bill in Lok Sabha. She further stressed that “if we will look at the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), we will find that women are not safe in our country, especially in Uttar Pradesh. Not only women, but even men should also be aware of the laws and punishment meant for women protection,” she said. Notably, the bill was taken up in the Parliament in August last year after a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court termed unconstitutional the law that allowed Muslim men to divorce their wives simply by uttering the word “talaq” three times in quick succession. The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill which proposes to make the practice of instant triple talaq an offence under the Indian Penal Code with the provision of three-year jail term for the erring husband.