India inches closer to criminalizing Muslim practice of instant divorce

The practice allows a husband to divorce his wife by simply saying the Arabic word for divorce, "Talaq", three times.

Amit Shah, Modi's closest political ally and the President of his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, called the bill "a historic step towards ensuring dignity for Muslim women."

Asaduddin Owaisi, a prominent Muslim parliamentarian from the southern city of Hyderabad, claimed it was an attempt to demonize the entire Muslim community.

"My appeal is that this bill should not be seen through the eyes of political parties, religion or as a vote bank. This is for the honor of our sisters and our daughters. This is for their dignity and justice. I want to follow the legacy of this house by seeing that India stands up for its Muslim sisters and daughters. That if they don't have justice, this house will give them justice."

"This is a historic moment because of the destiny of our 90 million citizens. If there are 180 million Muslims in our country, there are 90 million Muslim women. Ninety million is not a small number, it is more than the population of Britain. Today, we are here for them," Akbar said in parliament.

India is home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the world, but unlike most Muslim-majority countries, has been slow to ban triple talaq.