Though muslim community is the second largest majority and first largest minority in the country but in a very sorry state of affairs Prime Minister Narendra is continuing with his muslim bashing remarks and invoking legislations and decisions tantamount to meddling in the religious affairs of muslims in the country. Not the Chief Minister of the muslim majority of Jammu & Kashmir state the MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has mustered the courage to contests the claim of Prime Minister Modi that he had facilitated Muslim women’s travel for Haj without ‘Mahram’. Very rightly Owais has countered Prime Minister Modi that not the decision of the incumbent central government commanded and controlled by BJP but a regulation by Haj authorities of Saudi Arabia enforced many years ago allows women above the age of 45 years to perform Haj without a ‘Mahram’ if they travel with a group. As already reported by newspapers ‘Mahram’ is a male relative of a woman with whom she is permanently forbidden to marry by Islam. Had such contradictions been publicly made by Mehbooba Mufti the Chief Minister of the only muslim majority state of the country the muslims in Jammu & Kashmir would feel proud of seeing their woman Chief Minister taking head on the prime minister of this country over an issue which concerns their religious guidelines set by Almighty Allah. Laughably the Modi in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ speech on Sunday last week said that his government had removed the restriction which allows Muslim women to perform Hajj only in the company of ‘Maharam’. He had stated that injustice was done to women for decades. Prime Minister Modi is not talking about the injustice done to hindu women but about the religious code set by Almightly Allah for muslim women. Surprisingly Prime Minister Modi is only trying to amend the religious code of muslims only to instigate a gender confrontation in this community. Interestingly both the legislation on triple talaq and the decision on permission to muslim woman to proceed for Hajj without a “Muharam” are by all standards of understandabilities central government’s brazen attempts to trigger a gender confrontation among muslims in the entire country.
The silence of Mehbooba Mufti the Chief Minister of the only muslim majority state of the country is questionable and she owes a lot of explanations on her silence over both the issues- ‘legislation on triple talaq and the decision of the central government to allow women to proceed for Hajj without a Muharam’ to the people of muslim majority Kashmir valley which voted her Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to power in 2014 assembly elections. After all Mehbooba Mufti led PDP is working the government in Jammu & Kashmir in alliance with the BJP tinkering with the religious codes of the second largest majority and single largest minority in the country.
Had Prime Minister Modi been serious about the rights of muslim women, the incumbent central government commanded and controlled by him could easily push through a legislation to reserve 5-10% seats for muslim women in all India Services and higher judiciary in the country . Instead of empowering muslim women the Modi government is invoking such legislations and administrative decisions which have far reaching consequences on certain religious codes of muslims and such unwarranted meddling in the religious affairs of muslims could prove detrimental for the survival of the Modi government in the upcoming 2019 parliamentary election. The silence of Mehbooba Mufti the Chief Minister of the only muslim majority state of the country is questionable and she owes a lot of explanations on her silence over both the issues- ‘legislation on triple talaq and the decision of the central government to allow women to proceed for Hajj without a Muharam’ to the people of muslim majority Kashmir valley which voted her Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to power in 2014 assembly elections. After all Mehbooba Mufti led PDP is working the government in Jammu & Kashmir in alliance with the BJP tinkering with the religious codes of the second largest majority and single largest minority in the country.
