Mehbooba to act against MPs who abstained from voting on triple talaq bill

india

Updated: Jul 31, 2019 18:56 IST

Under fire in Kashmir after two MPs of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Rajya Sabha abstained from voting against the triple talaq bill despite opposing it, party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said action would be taken against them.

“It was wrong. They should have voted against it. I later learnt that they moved out (of the house). Although they talked against the bill but later they moved out. We are going to take action against them,” Mufti said. “Terming a Muslim husband who does that (triple talaq) criminal and jailing him, in my opinion, is a big mistake,” she said.

The abstention of Fayaz Ahmad Mir and Nazir Ahmad Laway had raised eyebrows with National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah accusing Mehbooba on Twitter of helping the BJP-led central government with the numbers needed to pass the bill.

Despite the government lacking majority in Rajya Sabha, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage), Bill, 2019 was passed in the house on Tuesday with 99 members in its favour while 84 members voted against it.

The PDP MPs were not the only ones who abstained from voting. Some members of the opposition Congress, SP and BSP, six members of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and two MPs of YSR Congress also abstained.

Engineer Abdul Rashid, a vociferous former lawmaker of Kashmir, while commenting on the Twitter spat between Mehbooba and Omar, wrote that PDP’s love for BJP was still intact.

“It isn’t time to blame each other but Yes PDP MPs should have voted against the bill. PDP MP’s Rajya Sabha have disappointed us and it seems PDP’s love for BJP is still intact,” he wrote on Twitter.

A few days back, Mehbooba had stated that their two lawmakers in Rajya Sabha will oppose the triple talaq bill.

When Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage), Bill, 2019 was passed in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Mehbooba criticized the Centre terming it undue interference.

“Fail to understand the need to pass the triple talaq bill especially since the Supreme Court had already declared it illegal. Undue interference seemingly to punish Muslims. Given the current state of the economy, should this really have been a priority?,” she had tweeted.

But the PDP’s MPs abstentions gave Omar Abdullah a chance to accuse her of double standards.

“Mehbooba Mufti ji, you might want to check how your members voted on this bill before tweeting. I understand they abstained which helped the government with the numbers needed to pass the bill. You can’t help the government & then “fail to understand need to pass”!,” he wrote.

The PDP chief had earlier shared her party’s position on twitter saying her MPs will oppose triple talaq bill. “Just to set the record straight,” she had tweeted while sharing a news link of her party’s stand to oppose Triple Talaq Bill.