CM Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday declared that strict action would be taken against “even Hindu men who, while married, take another wife & harass the 1st wife”.
In a major outreach programme targeting Muslim women, the Chief Minister met victims of triple talaq from all over the state & promised action against police personnel who haven't handled cases of triple talaq as per law. Each woman who attended the event was asked to submit details of her case & additional chief secretary (home) Awanish Awasthi has been asked to personally monitor each case. Besides, wherever there is lapse in investigation by the police, action has been ordered against those guilty.
A total of 127 applications were received from the victims. The Chief Minister also held a meeting in the evening with senior officers to review the cases. Awasthi said that each case would have been looked at individually by an official by Thursday evening.
Yogi has announced a rehabilitation package for the affected women & their children which includes an annual payment of Rs 6,000 to each victim.
“Ek shadi kar ke doosri patni ko rakhne wale Hindu pati par bhi issi prakar ki karyawahi hum log karenge (We will take similar action against a Hindu husband who, while married, gets a 2nd wife),” he said, emphasising that the Bharatiya Janata Party govt was “working without bias”.
Later in the day, the Chief Minister clarified that a law on polygamy already existed but the govt would enforce it strictly.
He added, : “ Teen talaq ke saath saath, koi Hindu ya koi anya purush bhi ek patni ke rehte hue doosri patni ko la kar ke aur pehli patni to pratarit kar ke use tyagta hai, talaq deta hai, to un sab ke khilaf kanoonan karyawahi karni chahiye, sakhta karyavahi karni chahiye. Aur koi riyayat kisi bhi prakar se unhe nahin milni chahiye, “Along with triple talaq, if a Hindu man or any other man gets a 2nd wife & then harasses the 1st wife, abandons or divorces her, we should take strict action against him. No leniency should be allowed”.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has asked the home, social welfare & minority affairs departments to prepare a rehabilitation plan for victims of triple talaq. Among the special provisions which he recommended are free legal aid, disbursal of Rs 6,000 to each victim annually till they become self-reliant & an insurance scheme like Ayushman Bharat in which the woman & her children could get a cover of Rs 5 lakh.
“Women who are educated should be absorbed within the system & be given work.
Women who are thrown out of their homes should be given houses under the PM Awas Yojna or the CM Awas Yojna. We would also look at linking them with Waqf properties across the state,” Yogi said.
The Chief Minister said that the govt had filed First Information Report (FIR)s in 273 triple talaq cases which had been reported over a year.
“There were 95 cases from Meerut, 68 from the Bareilly zone, 26 from Agra, 20 from Kanpur, 36 from Lucknow, seven from Allahabad, 13 from Gorakhpur & 8 from Varanasi,” the Chief Minister said.
Yogi also hit out at Congress, which had opposed the passing of the triple talaq bill in Parliament, saying that despite repeated orders from the Top Court, previous govts hadn't brought any laws to protect the interests of Muslim women.
“Instead, in the 1985 Shah Bano case, it brought a law to deprive Muslim women of their rights. They practice politics on secularism but spare nothing to divide society,” he said.
Source Link
Picture Source :
