Sushil urges Nitish to back Muslim women\\’s fight against

\ triple talaq\ Patna, Oct 28 (PTI) Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi\today urged Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to back Muslim women\\’s\crusade against triple talaq saying the JD(U) cannot abandon\women\\’s rights on the ground that it was an internal matter of\a particular community.\ The Bihar government had launched a scheme eight years\ago providing an assistance of Rs 10,000 to a divorced or\deserted Muslim woman for self employment, a scheme availed by\over 17,000 women so far, he said in a statement.\ Now that the Muslim women have challenged triple talaq\in the Supreme Court, it is imperative for the Bihar Chief\Minister to back these women in their endeavour to seek\justice against being left in the lurch by their husbands who\divorce them citing religious diktats, Sushil said.\ The senior BJP leader asked Kumar to clarify whether\Muslim women could be left on their own to bear with\atrocities and divorce by husbands as per their whims.\ He also urged the Chief Minister to extend the\benefits of the Muslim Women Divorced/Deserted Scheme to their\Hindu counterparts as there should not be any distinction\between women on religious grounds, with their needs and\problems being identical in the event of desertion by their\better halves.\ The former deputy chief minister said the JD(U) and\its national president Nitish Kumar should not leave the\Muslim women at the mercy of their husbands and religious\decrees on the ground of these issues being an internal matter\of a community as they have been a victim of triple talaq and\child marriage in the absence of a legal framework to protect\them. PTI KDK DKB\RG\