Muslim leaders and organisations have taken the strategic view of not opposing the proposed Uniform Civil Code publicly, speculating it could benefit the ruling BJP in upcoming Assembly elections and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, sources said. In a meeting on Tuesday, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board instead decided it would soon submit a draft document to the Law Commission.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong push for a Uniform Civil Code on Tuesday, asking how can the country function with dual laws that govern personal matters, and accused the opposition of using the issue to “mislead and provoke” Muslims.
Addressing BJP workers in Bhopal in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Modi said: “You tell me, in a home, how can there be one law for one member and another law for another member? Will that home be able to function? Then how will the country be able to function with such a dual (legal) system? We have to remember that even in India’s Constitution, there is a mention of equal rights for all.”
Even the Supreme Court has advocated for a UCC, which will override personal laws of different religions, but those practising vote bank politics are opposing it, Modi said batting for the UCC with less than a year left for the Lok Sabha polls.
The UCC has been one of the three key poll planks of the BJP for a long time with the other being the abrogation of Article 370 that had given special status to Jammu and Kashmir and construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
Uniform Civil Code refers to a common set of laws that are applicable to all the citizens of India that is not based on religion and dealing with marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption among other personal matters.
The Law Commission had on June 14 initiated a fresh consultation process on UCC by seeking views from stakeholders, including public and recognised religious organisations, on the politically sensitive issue.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have said the PM raised the UCC issue only to divert attention from the real issues of unemployment, price rise and Manipur violence.
“These are all diversionary issues. He wants to run away from the real issues of the country, that is why they are only trying to divert the issues,” Congress general secretary, organisation KC Venugopal said.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi asked whether the country’s pluralism and diversity would be “snatched away” in the name of UCC, while RJD leader Manoj Jha said the prime minister should not make issues like UCC an instrument of “dog-whistle politics”.
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