'Would have taken enormous political will to practically bulldoze it through', says Advaita Kala about the Triple Talaq ordinance. Read here

Advaita Kala has applauded the Prime Minister for taking a progressive stand and "practically bulldozing" through the Triple Talaq Ordinance. 

Speaking to Republic World, the author talked about how matters had played out, harkening back to how the Opposition had resisted the bill's passage in the Rajya Sabha by deflecting from discussing it and choosing to take up various other issues. From this, she concluded that it would have taken enormous political will to push through the ordinance.

On the politics of the move, Kala said, "We shouldn't look at it through a 2018 politics lens. It's been going on since the 80s since Rajiv Gandhi's time (reference to the Shah Bano case) and Muslim women have been trying to climb out of the abyss for decades."

In response to those who seek to relate the matter to religion, Advaita Kala said, "It's a question of gender rights and justice. It has nothing to do with faith. Many Islamic nations have banned it.". Emphasising her point, she added, "We need to remove this from the discourse of religion and insert it into the discussion on rights".

Asked about the Congress party's main grouse with the Triple Talaq bill, as stated by Randeep Surjewala, i.e. that there shouldn't be a jail term for the man who gives Triple Talaq, rather his properties should be attached, Advaita Kala said, "It's one thing to say it on TV and another to say it on the floor of the house. Everytime it comes up, the Congress obstructs, delays and disrupts. It's votebank politics. These considerations could have been raised on the floor of the house."

She said that this 'political waffling' on Triple Talaq was evident to Muslim women, and reiterated what Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said about how because of the delay, over 400 women have had to suffer Triple Talaq.

Citing the historic decriminalisation of Section 377 she called Wednesday's ordinance the second big civil rights reform in almost as many weeks.