Trinamool plans to oppose ban on triple talaq, UCC in house debate

For the last few days, Trinamool Congress MP and vice-president Sultan Ahmed has been organising several programmes to drum up support against Narendra Modi government’s efforts to implement a ban on triple talaq, which he fears is a precursor to implement the Uniform Civil Code. At the end of his roadshows, Ahmed will host a three-day conference on Muslim Personal Law Board and the ‘negative effects’of Uniform Civil Code, if implemented. With the Trinamool MP hosting such an event scheduled on November 20 in Kolkata, the Modi government may see a stormy winter session in November.

Trinamool Congress stood by Modi for the imposition of GST but now might lead the debate protesting against Uniform Civil Code and triple talaq. Uniform Civil Code is an unfeasible and impossible idea for a nation like India, Sultan Ahmed told ET’s Madhuparna Das in an exclusive interview. Edited excerpts:

You have been instrumental in mobilising support against the implementation of Uniform Civil Code. How do you explain your stand on the issue?
It is clear that the Prime Minister and his team did not do any research on the issue. Had they done their homework properly, they would have known that only 1% of total number of triple talaqs is executed in reality. There had been surveys on this. Suddenly, we are seeing, our PM is concerned about Muslim women. Had it been the case and had the concern been real, he should have brought justice to Zakia Jafri of Gujarat, who has been running from one court to another for justice. (Zakia is the widow of former Congress MP, Ehsaan Jafri, who was killed during Gujarat riots in 2002).

What are the chances of Uniform Civil Code being implemented in the country?
We as a community feel that everybody should have their religious rights and government should not interfere in it. Moreover, in India, there are around 22 personal laws of various communities, including Christians, Parsis, Jains, tribals and so on. So, for imposing uniform civil code, the government has to take all communities into confidence. This is not feasible in India where there are at least 300 castes, creeds and dialects.

The government received huge support from Muslim women outfits for abolishing triple talaq. It shows women do not want this to exist. What is your take?
This is a political agenda of the RSS. For the last 50 years, BJP has these issues in their manifesto. So, in the garb of triple talaq, they are actually targeting Muslim Personal Law board. If Muslim Personal Law board doesn’t exist, many rules in our community will suffer a huge blow. The inheritance law of Muslims will be affected. RSS is only targeting Muslim Personal Law while there is no word on other personal laws.

What is party’s stand on the issue?
I cannot speak for the party, but I know that our chief Mamata Banerjee is always for communal harmony and she believes that every community should have its rights. We will surely raise this issue in Parliament.