Panaji, July 16 : There is no practice more inhuman than triple talaq, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Monday, claiming that Muslim women in Uttar Pradesh helped the BJP sweep the state polls after the passage of a law against the practice.

Speaking at a meeting of party workers here, Parrikar asked the party cadre to reach out to the minority communities and dispel their baseless perceptions due to fake news, adding that the phenomenon of fake news would gather momentum as the Lok Sabha elections approach.

"We will have to approach the minorities. There are efforts to inflame passions... Triple talaq is inhuman. There is no practice more inhuman than triple talaq. Even the Supreme Court has passed strictures against it. When Modi ji brought the law after the Supreme Court verdict, it too was obstructed," Parrikar said.

"In Uttar Pradesh, Muslim women supported the Bharatiya Janata Party in a big way because they had to suffer due to the practice. It is not that it (triple talaq) is prevalent only among the uneducated and poor. It happens in educated societies too," the Chief Minister said.

Parrikar also warned party workers about fake news.

"In the Information Technology age, you keep getting information on Facebook, along with fake news. We read in newspapers about lives lost in several places on account of fake news. The responsibility of BJP workers therefore has increased. As elections near, you will get different kinds of fake news. Accusations will be made purely for the purpose of publicity," he said.

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Jerusalem, Nov 5: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed his popular defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement that came as the country is embroiled in wars on multiple fronts across the region.

Netanyahu and Gallant have repeatedly been at odds over the war in Gaza. But Netanyahu had avoided firing his rival. Netanyahu cited “significant gaps” and a “crisis of trust” between the men in his Tuesday evening announcement.

“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defence minister,” Netanyahu said. “Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defence minister.”

In the early days of the war, Israel's leadership presented a unified front as it responded to Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack. But as the war dragged on and spread to Lebanon, key policy differences have emerged. While Netanyahu has called for continued military pressure on Hamas, Gallant had taken a more pragmatic approach, saying that military force has created the necessary conditions for a diplomatic deal that could bring home hostages held by the Hamas group.

Gallant, a former general who has gained public respect with a gruff, no-nonsense personality, said in a statement: “The security of the state of Israel always was, and will always remain, my life's mission."

Gallant has worn a simple, black buttoned shirt throughout the war in a sign of sorrow over the October 7 attack and developed a strong relationship with his US counterpart, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

A previous attempt by Netanyahu to fire Gallant in March 2023 sparked widespread street protests against Netanyahu. He also flirted with the idea of dismissing Gallant over the summer but held off until Tuesday's announcement.

Gallant will be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister who was a junior officer in the military. Gideon Saar, a former Netanyahu rival who recently rejoined the government, will take the foreign affairs post.

Netanyahu has a long history of neutralising his rivals. In his statement, he claimed he had made “many attempts” to bridge the gaps with Gallant.

“But they kept getting wider. They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy - our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it,” he said.