Kolkata: BJP leader Ishrat Jahan, a petitioner in the triple talaq case in the Supreme Court, has filed a police complaint alleging that she was threatened and verbally abused for attending a Hanuman Chalisa recital in a hijab.
In a complaint to Golabari police in Howrah, Jahan accused her brother-in-law and her landlord of threatening and abusing her for taking part in the religious ceremony. Jahan said she was returning home from her son's school on Wednesday when hundreds of local residents in Golabari area surrounded and intimidated her for attending the recital in a hijab.
"They said that I demeaned the Muslim community as I attended the function in hijab… A group of people gathered outside my house and asked me why I went to attend a Hanuman Chalisa Path event wearing hijab," news agency ANI quoted Jahan as saying.
"Everyone said I should leave the house immediately else they will push me out of the house forcefully. I am receiving death threats. I demand protection. I live alone with my son, anything can happen to me anytime," she said.
Confirming the incident, police said they have launched an enquiry into the complaint and that necessary action will be taken. Alleging threat to life, Jahan has sought protection from the police, a police officer said.
In her complaint, Jahan wrote: "I wish to say that we are living in a secular country and it is our democratic right to take part in any holy festival… I did my duty as a good citizen of my country. I am a secular person. However, I am facing life threats from my family members due to the same."
Jahan also alleged that her brother in-law and landlord have threatened to render her homeless. "My brother in-law and landlord started threatening me and asked me to leave the house. They also abused me severely and threatened to kill me," the complaint said.
Reacting to the incident, Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said, “Ishrat has every right to do what she wants to. It is very interesting that no one questions when Mamata Banerjee and other TMC leaders offers namaz."
Mother to a 14-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son, Jahan is one of the five petitioners in the instant triple talaq case. The practice of instant triple talaq was struck down by the Supreme Court on August 22, 2017.
She moved the apex court after her husband divorced her over phone from Dubai by uttering the word 'talaq' thrice consecutively in 2014.
Jahan joined the BJP on January 1, 2018.
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