Siddiqullah Chowdhury, a Minister in West Bengal government, took the protest against the Centre’s ordinance on triple talaq to another level by saying that the Constitution is subservient to the Quran.
Chowdhury is the Minister of Mass Education and Library in the government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He is also the state president of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind.
According to a report in The Indian Express, Chowdhury said that the Quran will prevail over the Constitution if any constitutional provision or law contradicts the Quran.
“For us, our holy scripture, the Quran Sharif, is supreme and if any constitutional provision or any law contradicts the Quran, then our scripture will prevail and not the law or Constitution,” Chowdhury was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
Interestingly, Chowdhury accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of playing the religion card and toying with the Constitution.
Referring to the Ordinance introduced on Wednesday that made the practice of triple talaq a penal offence, Chowdhury said that it will “have no effect on Muslims”.
“No one will adhere to it, but will follow the religion and the holy book,” he said.
Drawing attention to the rising cases of violence against women, he said that the Centre is doing nothing to protect the women but “are hurting the sentiments of Muslims for cheap vote bank politics”.
This is not the first time that the controversial minister has lashed out against the triple talaq. In August 2017, he had vehemently countered the Supreme Court’s ruling banning the triple talaq calling the decision “unconstitutional”.
According to reports, he had then said that the ban on triple talaq is “a design of the BJP government”. At the time he had defended his party stating that his views are personal.
Chowdhury is not the only Muslim leader to oppose the triple talaq ordinance.
All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi had protested the passing of the Ordinance calling it “unconstitutional”.
Owaisi, a Lok Sabha MP from Telangana’s Hyderabad, said on Wednesday that All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and women organisations should challenge the ordinance in the Supreme Court.
“This ordinance is against the Muslim women. This ordinance will not provide justice to the Muslim women,” Owaisi quoted.
“In Islam, marriage is a civil contract and bringing penal provisions in it is wrong,” said Owaisi
