Dr Swamy Is Right On Triple Talaq But Wrong To Equate It With Women Entry In Sabarimala

Branding triple talaq as immoral, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday stated that the controversial practice only proved inequality between men and women which was unacceptable in the Indian society, adding that freedom of religion is subject to reasonable restrictions.

Swamy opined that there is a "wrong impression" that freedom of religion is absolute and further elaborated, that under Article 25 of the Constitution, it says that freedom of religion is subject to some reasonable restrictions, which are due to morality, public order and health. “So where is the question of talaq? It is an immoral thing. Because through that, what you are saying is men can divorce a woman who is totally dependent on him and bring to her to the streets by saying talaq three times. The woman is always living in a great deal of insecurity because of that. That only means that men and women are not equal, which we cannot accept,” he said.

Asserting that the same went for the Hindus as well, Swamy further said that when the Sabarimala matter came to light, it was decided that if women cannot go in the sanctum then so can’t men, or both genders must be allowed.

Dr. Swamy is right on triple talaq but seems to have missed the nuances on Sabarimala matter which is so unlike him. While the former is inherently sexist (giving men unequal powers over women), the latter is not. The temple doesn’t bar the entry of women but entry of women of a certain age group. This flows from the edict of the presiding deity of the Temple given the deity’s celibate nature. This is constitutional too. As J Saideepk, who is representing #ReadyToWait group in the Sabarimala matter in the Supreme Court , points out in his article that in Seshammal v. State of Tamil Nadu and N.Adithyan v. The Travancore Devaswom Board, the apex court has unequivocally upheld the sanctity and supremacy of Agamas within the Constitutional framework so long as they are not based on discrimination of any kind. And in the case of Sabarimala Ayyappa Shrine, that is not the case.

Watch Sai Deepak explain in detail why Sabarimala issue is not about misogyny.

With inputs from ANI.