Assuring that Indian Muslims were 100% protected, Naqvi said they should think why a ‘bogus brigade’ was spreading fake information about CAA and confusing them.

BHOPAL: A day after BJP’s lone Muslim Indore municipal councillor quit the party opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, union minister for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “The BJP hasn’t put up a board of “no exit” or “no entry.”

“Our party is a big political party. It has neither put up a ‘no exit’ nor a ‘no entry’ board. People come to BJP. Those who don’t want to stay even quit it,” Naqvi said in Indore on Sunday. Asked whether BJP had failed to convince its Muslim leaders over the CAA, Naqvi said, “All those who have misunderstood CAA should think with an open mind. There is no threat to any Indian citizen due it.

Assuring that Indian Muslims were 100% protected, Naqvi said they should think why a ‘bogus brigade’ was spreading fake information about CAA and confusing them. “It was after a long process that CAA was passed by Parliament. Even those misleading people know that neither will there be any change in the new law nor would it be withdrawn. The President and PM have already said there is no threat to the citizenship of any Indian,” Naqvi said.

Slamming those questioning the CAA by linking it to citizenship of Indian Muslims, Naqvi said they are conspiring to keep a large section of society from progress. Last Saturday, 58-year-old Usman Patel, BJP’s lone Muslim councillor in Indore, quit the party opposing the CAA. Before it, hundreds of other Muslim leaders and members of the party had quit in Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Guna and Khargone districts.

Earlier, after applications came, the lottery system was used to decide the number of devotees to visit the sacred towns of Saudi Arabia. 

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand state government has decided to withdraw the lottery system for those applying for Hajj to Mecca-Medina from nine districts in the state. Sources said that the decision was taken following Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat’s instructions. 

Shamim Alam, chairman of Uttarakhand Hajj Committee said, “We have decided to do away with ‘Kurrandazi’ (lottery system) for people of hill districts. The number of applicants is already low in these districts so it’s not relevant.”

Earlier, after applications came, the lottery system was used to decide the number of devotees to visit the sacred towns of Saudi Arabia. Till date, 2,348 applications have been filed from all 13 districts of the hill state and 95 happen to be pending for paperwork and approval.

The last date to apply for the Hajj is December 17, 2019. The officials from the committee said that the list of selected people from other districts through the lottery system will be available in January 2020.
Senior Citizens above 70-years of age are already exempted from the lottery system. 

Nasheman News :Calling the Triple Talaq Bill passed by the Lok Sabha as “arbitrary, excessive, and violative of fundamental rights”, rights activists and organisations on Thursday appealed to Rajya Sabha members to “withdraw the Bill and significantly redraft” it in the interest of Muslim women.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018 which criminalises the practice of triple talaq among Muslims, was passed in the Lower House after rejection of all opposition amendments, and the government turning down demands for referring the bill to a joint select committee for detailed consideration.

In a statement, 40 rights activists and organisations opposed the Bill, calling it arbitrary, excessive, and violative of fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution. 

“Overall, if this Bill is passed it would make Muslim women more vulnerable to violence, as well as harm their economic, household and social security,” they said. 

Arguing that there was “no rationale to criminalise the practice of talaq-e-biddat”, they said that if the Bill was passed, Muslim men will be incarcerated violating their rights of conjugality and would also lead to unwanted separation of the couple, against the wishes of the wife.

“Since Muslim marriage is a civil contract between two adult persons, the procedures to be followed on its breakdown should also be of civil nature. Penal action to discourage the practice of instant triple talaq is a myopic view as it leaves many other issues of economic and social security of women unaddressed,” they said.

They also called the Bill which prescribes imprisonment up to three years and makes the offence a cognizable and non-bailable one, as “draconian and disproportionate”.

“Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that the practice is still “continuing unabated”. He has pegged the number of divorce cases pronounced by way of triple talaq to 400 in 13 months. This data, for a country as large as India, is not enough to draw conclusions and create a criminalising bill. Moreover, the statement seems to be based on popular beliefs or perception rather than corroborated by any material evidence,” claimed the activists. 

“The move to imprison Muslim men will add to the prevailing insecurity and alienation of the Muslim community. Criminalisation of instant triple talaq will further stifle the voices of Muslim women instead of offering them avenues for justice,” they added.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), the apex body of Indian Muslims, on Thursday termed as ‘murder of democracy’ and an ‘insult to Parliament’ the ordinance brought by the Centre last week making triple talaq a criminal offence.

AIMPLB Secretary Moulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani told reporters here that the government brought the ordinance through backdoor on an issue which was not very important and where there was room for making legislation democratically and through public opinion.

Rahmani, who is also the spokesperson of the board, said the legislation was unacceptable for Muslims. He pointed out that Muslim women have already rejected it.

On whether the board will challenge the ordinance in the Supreme Court, he said the board’s legal committee will look into it as the ordinance will anyway lapse in six months.

AIMPLB member and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, who also addressed the news conference, said the ordinance would lapse the moment Parliament meets for the next session.

Rahmani said the government tried to bring a bill in Parliament, which was an interference in Shariat and was against the rights of women.

He said it was ironic that the government drafted the bill without consulting the community for which the legislation was being made.

The government also turned down the demand of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha to refer the bill to Select Committee which would have given an opportunity to the community or its representative organisations like AIMPLB to put forth their view.

He claimed that the ordinance was bereft of any logic as it seeks to punish a man for a crime which he has not committed.

“The Supreme Court has set aside triple talaq. When you are saying that when a man gives triple talaq, it will not come into effect, then what for you are sending him to jail for three years?” he asked.

Rahmani said criminalization of triple talaq would increase the number of women deserted by their husbands.

Owaisi said that marriage in Islam was a social contract and to apply penal provisions was unconstitutional.

(IANS)

The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Centre’s stand on a plea by a cleric seeking a ban on hoisting green flags with a crescent and star, terming it as un-Islamic and resembling that of a Pakistani political party.

A bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Ashim Bhushan asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, to seek instructions from the government on the issue and posted it for hearing after two weeks.

“Take instructions on what’s the stand of the government. Sometime it would be difficult for the government… They would be blamed they are taking action mala fide. Now the matter is with the court, they can take instructions,” the bench said.

The court was hearing a plea filed by the Syed Waseem Rizvi, the chairman of Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Board of Waqfs, alleging that the flags hoisted resembled the flags of the Pakistan Muslim League, which belongs to the “enemy country”.

Senior advocate S.P. Singh, appearing for Rizvi, told the court that during petitioner’s visit to Mumbai, Hyderabad, Karnataka and other places in the country, he saw flags on several buildings and religious structures, which were allegedly a cause of tension between Hindu and Muslim communities.

Such flags were being hoisted in Muslim-dominated areas with utmost impunity and the crescent and star in a green backdrop have never been part of any Islamic practice and does not have any role or significance in Islam, claimed the plea.

The petition stated that the crescent star flags in green colour owe its origins to the erstwhile political party, Muslim League, founded by Nawaz Waqar Ul-Malik and Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1906. But in the present day, it was being used by Indian Muslims who were treating it as an Islamic flag.