Hyderabad: The BJP Mahila Morcha says it intends to campaign across the country to reach out to every woman on Article 370 and Triple Talaq, two pieces of legislation that directly affect the Muslim community.
On Monday, the BJP Mahila Morcha conducted a public awareness abhiyan during which its national president Vijaya Rahatkar, criticised the Congress party for opposing the abolition of Article 370 (which gave special status to the Muslim majority state of J&K). She praised the Modi government for making two big decisions on Jammu & Kashmir and triple talaq within 100 days of coming to power for the second time.
“Article 370 and triple talaq (the easy divorce system which has now been criminalised) were abolished by Prime Minister Narendra Modi within 100 days of forming the government for the second time,” she declared. “Due to the appeasement politics of the Congress party, the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Muslim women of the country had to suffer for more than 70 years. PM Narendra Modi took two courageous decisions, abrogation of Article 370 and triple talaq law, for the welfare of Muslim women,” she continued.
According to Ms Rahatkar, Article 370 had deprived the people of Jammu and Kashmir of the rights enjoyed by citizens of other states of the country. Children did not have the Right to Education, and women from the Kashmir Valley who married a man from another state had to forego their share in the family property, she said.
She said that the former chief minister of J&K, Farooq Abdullah, had said that no matter how powerful Mr Modi had become after winning the Lok Sabha elections, he cannot remove Article 35A and Article 370 from the state of Jammu and Kashmir, but, she boasted, PM Modi has united the country by abrogating Article 370.
On triple talaq, Ms Rahatkar said, “Muslim women were not confident and were suppressed, but PM Modi brought triple talaq law for the welfare of the Muslim women.”
Hinting at the All India MIM, she added that for some leaders there is no case of misusing triple talaq, but after the triple talaq law was passed, more than 350 cases of triple talaq have been reported, which, she said, is an alarming situation.
BJP state Mahila Morcha president Akula Vijaya released a mobile number which she said distressed women could use to seek help.
“The BJP Mahila Morcha will be on the field aggressively campaigning door to door in Telangana to bring awareness about Article 370 and triple talaq. Any Muslim woman in distress can call me on 8466000039 any time,” Ms Vijaya said.
