PM Modi to meet Triple talaq victim Nida Khan during Shahjahanpur rally

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Nida Khan, who is fighting a case of instant triple talaq (divorce) against her in-laws of the Ala Hazrat family of Bareilly, during his upcoming visit to Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.

Farhat Naqvi, sister of Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and who was also separated from her husband, will accompany her.

The duo was invited by Bareilly MLA, Rajesh Kumar Mishra aka Pappu Bhartol of BJP for a rally that Modi will attend.

“I have only been invited for the rally over phone. I will surely visit the rally if I receive a formal invitation,” said Nida Khan.

Local BJP units were planning to send a formal invitation to Khan by the time this report was filed.

“The MLA told me that the Prime Minister will meet us in Shahjahanpur during the meeting,” said Farhat Naqvi.

An estimated two lakh supporters are expected to attend the rally.

Based in Bareilly, the two women have been vocal against the practices of nikah halala and instant triple talaq. They also run separate NGOs to help those who have suffered from instant triple talaq and halala.

Instant triple talaq, by which Muslim men can divorce their wives by saying the word talaq thrice, has been banned by Supreme Court.

The Centre has brought a bill in Parliament which seeks to criminalise the act.

Nida (23), who was married into the family of Ahmed Raza Khan aka Ala Hazrat, a famous Sufi scholar, was allegedly harassed by her in-laws for dowry and was given instant triple talaq. She had lodged a complaint against domestic violence and harassment in 2016, but the case is still pending in a local court.

Naqvi is also pursuing a case against her in-laws after being separated from her husband.

Earlier this week, a Barelvi cleric issued a fatwa against Nida.

“Nida Khan has been ousted from Islam for questioning the practice of triple talaq and halala,” Md Khurshid Alam Razvi, imam of Jama Masjid mosque in Bareilly, had said during a press conference on July 16.

On Naqvi, Razvi said she “should not comment on the issue of halala and instant triple talaq because she is from Shia community.”

The fatwa drew criticism from senior clerics and politicians.

Nida has refused to recognise the fatwa and has decided to approach the Supreme Court.