PM Modi asks NDA MPs to reach out to Muslim women during Rakshan Bandhan festival

livemint.com:

Narendra Modi has asked BJP leaders to reach out to Muslim women during the upcoming festival of Raksha Bandhan which will will fall on August 30 this year. PM Modi's statement came against the backdrop of his government's decision to ban triple talaq which boosted the overall sense of security for Muslim women. PM Modi made this remark at a meeting of BJP-led NDA MPs from West Bengal, Odisha, and Jharkhand on Monday night in which he and other senior BJP leaders highlighted various development initiatives of the central government for different sections of society.

Some of the MPs, present in the meeting, said PM Modi emphasised the need to connect with every section of society and then noted his government's decision to ban the practice of instant divorce among Muslim men. The government has criminalised the practice. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill was passed by Parliament in 2019, declaring the practice of instant triple talaq illegal and a crime that could attract a jail term for the husband.

Modi has often highlighted his government's reform measures for Muslim women. In his recent 'Mann ki Baat' address, he noted that over 4,000 Muslim women performing Haj this year without 'mehram' was a "huge transformation" and asserted that more and more people were getting the chance to go for the annual pilgrimage with the changes made by his government in the Haj policy over the past few years. Yesterday, PM Modi chaired a meeting with 48 MPs of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from several States and Union Territories in Delhi.