Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said that Islam should ban the practice of triple talaq, and compared this with Hindu reformers initiatives to end sati and dowry, PTI reported. “Triple talaq is not allowed and everybody knows it, yet there are a few people who are doing injustice with Muslim women. It is high time that Muslim society witnesses change,” Naidu said.

“Hindu society changed a lot. We abolished child marriage, dowry and sati. I believe that there should be a healthy discussion within Muslim society regarding this issue and that they should chalk out a solution,” the news agency quoted Naidu as saying.

A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court will hear petitions challenging the Islamic practice from May 11. Chief Justice JS Khehar had said that the triple talaq debate was an “issue of grave importance”. “If we don’t come to a decision on it, the issue will be pending for years, and then don’t come blaming the judiciary,” he had told Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi.

The Supreme Court has been hearing a number of petitions related to the triple talaq debate. On February 14, the bench had refused to club hearings on the Uniform Civil Code with those on Muslim personal laws, saying they were two separate subjects. On October 7, the Centre had taken an official stand against triple talaq and polygamy, telling the top court that gender equality was non-negotiable.