Burqa-clad triple-talaq victim campaigns for BJP in UP

Lucknow: A 27-year-old burqa-clad woman, who is a triple-talaq victim, is campaigning for the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls to make the Muslim women realise the "good work" being done by the saffron party in the state. Nida Khan believes that unlike other parties, the BJP does not see Muslims as a vote bank only but considers them as equals. Khan, who dons a burqa, has campaigned for the BJP candidates in the first and second phase of the assembly elections and is set to join the poll campaign in other parts of the state for the other phases.

She is usually accompanied by female members of the BJP as well as members of the party's minority cell during the campaigning. "I have done door-to-door campaigning and held small meetings with the female voters for BJP candidates both in Meerut and Bareilly. I will also join the campaigning for the party in central and eastern UP districts," Khan, who joined the minority wing of the BJP in January this year, told PTI.

"We move in smaller groups for door-to-door campaigning and try to meet the maximum women voters in a day. I inform the voters about welfare schemes of the BJP government," Khan said. We usually campaign in areas with considerable Muslim voters, the triple talaq victim said. When asked about her reasons for joining the BJP, Khan, who hails from Bareilly, said, "I have realised that all political parties be it the Samajwadi Party, the Congress or the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), all use Muslims only as a vote bank. They take our votes to get to power and then forget us for the next five years. This is why the Muslim community is one of the least developed communities in our society.

However, this is not the story in the BJP, where everyone is considered as equal." "I want the women of the Muslim community to realise the good work of the BJP under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I am confident that the social condition of the Muslims will improve if the BJP comes to power again in Uttar Pradesh," she added. On BJP not giving tickets to any Muslim candidate in the assembly polls, Khan said, "I believe that the decision for ticket distribution is done on the basis of merit and not just on vote bank in the BJP. I am sure that the party will get suitable candidates from the Muslim community who will get tickets in future elections." A post-graduate pursuing law, Khan came into the spotlight in 2017 after she filed a complaint of domestic violence and dowry against her husband and his family members.

She had alleged that her husband, who comes from an influential religious family in Bareilly, gave her instant triple talaq. The cases are under trial in local courts in Bareilly. "The harassment I suffered just after marriage gave me strength to fight for other Muslim women who are victims of triple talaq as well as dowry," she said. Khan said the anti-triple talaq law passed by the Centre as well as the Uttar Pradesh government's unlawful religious conversion law are a "boon for the Muslim women and the society".