The Narendra Modi government in New Delhi deserves applause for passing the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018, which criminalizes the practice of “triple talaq” — a medieval, patriarchal divorce procedure still in use in many Muslim communities in India and abroad. All this procedure requires for a man to divorce his wife is to repeat the word “talaq” three times.

In order for the bill — passed by India’s Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha) on December 27, 2018 — to be written into Indian law, it needs approval by the Parliament’s Upper House (Rajya Sabha).

In an attempt to keep this from happening, radical Islamist groups, such as the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), are attempting to join forces with opposition parties to torpedo the bill. Oppositionists on the left have accused the bill of violating fundamental human rights and of constituting “an assault on the Muslim family structure.”

Meanwhile, the AIMPLB has argued that the bill amounts to interference with religious law, and therefore violates the Constitution of India.

via India: The Upper House of Parliament Must Help Muslim Women, Endorse the Bill Banning the Practice of “Triple Talaq”