INDIA TOMORROW

NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 1—Former Union Minister Arif Mohammed Khan was on Sunday declared to be the new governor of Kerala.

He will be replacing P. Sathasivam.

He is among the five persons whose names were announced for post of governors by President Ram Nath Kovind.

 Khan is known for his extreme views on triple talaq. In 1986 as a union minister in Rajiv Gandhi government, he had supported the Supreme Court’s judgement in Shah Bano’s case to make the right to maintenance of a divorced Muslim wife absolute. He quit from his ministerial post when the Rajiv government nullified the SC order through a bill in the Parliament.

He was among the few Muslims in the country to have completely backed the  BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, that criminalises instant triple talaq in one sitting. While new says that the divorce through instant triple `talaq’ would not be valid, it provides for registration of FIR, arrest and punishment of the husband.

Khan, who changed various political parties from Congress to BSP, joined BJP in 2004 and unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha elections in 2004 from Kaisarganj constituency on BJP ticket.

Four others declared to be new governors are Kalraj Mishra, transferred from Himachal Pradesh to Rajasthan, where he replaces Kalyan Singh as the new Governor, Bandaru Dattatreya replaces Mishra in Himachal Pradesh.

Bhagat Singh Koshyari has been appointed the new Governor of Maharashtra shunting out Vidyasagar Rao.

Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan has been made the new governor of Telangana replacing E.S.L. Narasimhan.