Ex-Union minister Arif Mohammad Khan supports Narendra Modi's statement in LS on triple talaq, recalls Shah Bano case

New Delhi: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi quoted former union minister Arif Mohammad Khan in his speech in the Lok Sabha, the latter on Tuesday sided with him and said that Modi used his quote to send across a message. “The Prime Minister has referred to my interview, to give a message that for how long any section of the people, I am not talking about any particular community, can allow itself to be deceived by the power-wielders. It is a clear cut message,” Arif Mohammad Khan told ANI here. [caption id=“attachment_6884461” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Arif Mohammad Khan. ANI[/caption] Further explaining the incident, Khan said, “Six-seven years ago, during a TV interview, I was asked whether any pressure was brought upon me to take back my resignation (in connection with the Shah Bano case). I said yes. The day I resigned and left my resignation letter in the Prime Minister’s Office, I disappeared from my house and spent the night at friend’s house.” He added, “The next morning when I reached Parliament, the first person to meet me was Arun Singh. I have great respect for him. He spent almost an hour with me. He repeatedly told me that morally you are absolutely right whatever you are doing, but politically it is going to become inconvenient for the party and the leadership, if you can reconsider. After several others, Mr Narasimha Rao was the last person who came to this room and sat with me. He told me, ‘Tum bahut ziddi ho. Shah Bano ne bhi apna stand badal liya hai’ (you are very stubborn, even Shah Bano has changed her stances).” Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier asked Congress to support the Triple Talaq Bill saying it can make up for two “missed opportunities” on the issue of women empowerment in the past, once on Uniform Civil Code and the other on Shah Bano judgement. “Congress has missed two opportunities on the issue of women empowerment. They first missed in 1950s when Uniform Civil Code was being debated and then after 35 years when Shah Bano case came up. Now is the third chance when they can support Triple Talaq Bill.” “There are reports that a Congress minister had said at the time when Shah Bano case was being debated in the country that ‘upliftment of Muslims is not the responsibility of the Congress, if they want to lie in gutter, let them be’,” he said in his reply to the debate on the President’s address in the Lok Sabha. The Triple Talaq Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha last week amid a huge uproar from the Opposition parties, which are against criminalising the offence. The Opposition raised strong objections at the introduction of the Bill itself. After a brief discussion, the motion for tabling the bill was put to vote. As many as 186 members voted for the introduction of the Bill and 74 against.