On Tuesday, June 27, PM Modi took a strong stand for the implementation of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country, asking as to why the country should have two laws. Addressing BJP booth-workers from Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, during his ‘Mera Booth Sabse Mazboot’ public meeting, he also said that the opposition of the country is creating divides in the society by treading on the path of the politics of appeasement, and hence, are opposing the UCC.
Reacting to PM Modi’s statements, AIMIM Chief, Asaduddin Owaisi, said, “You are talking about implementing uniform laws; will you, Mr Prime Minister, abrogate article 371 for states like Mizoram and Nagaland, when you cannot even speak about Manipur? You are talking about UCC, but under the ‘Disturbed Areas Act’ of Gujarat, a Muslim cannot sell off his house, a Hindu cannot sell off his house to a Muslim. In Himachal Pradesh, non-Himachalis cannot buy agricultural land”.
“You are talking about UCC, go and talk about the same in Punjab, to the Sikhs, and see the reaction. The PM, in the name of Uniform Civil Code, is talking about Hindu Civil Code, wanting to implement the same, and their objective is the same, to target the Muslims of India, to humiliate them. You want to outlaw the religious practices of Muslims”, added Owaisi.
“The PM is not able to understand that the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board has also mentioned that the Supreme Court has said that if you introduce UCC to the ‘essential religious practices’, there are many ‘Ayat’ of the Quran, which will get overruled. How will you change them?”, asserted Owaisi.
Senior JDU leader, KC Tyagi, too, slammed the Prime Minister, and said, “This is such an issue which should be discussed by all the political parties, and all the stakeholders. Vote-bank politics is done by the BJP alone, which, at the time of every election, finds out points, with which religious polarization takes place, and the party benefits”.
DMK leader TKS Elangovan asserted, “UCC should be first introduced in the Hindu religion. Every person including SC/ST should be allowed to perform pooja in any temple of the country. We don’t want UCC only because the Constitution has given protection to every religion”.
On the other hand, in the defence of UCC and PM Modi statements, Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture, Meenakshi Lekhi, gave an assurance that the Government of India will do whatever needs to be done for UCC in the country. She said, “UCC is a question related to women, so the government of India will do whatever has to be done for this. The law-and-order situation in Delhi is very good, Punjab has the worst law and order situation. Somewhere, the accused of the Delhi Riots are associated with the AAP. Maybe, Arvind Kejriwal wants law and order to be in his hands to get his Deputy CM out of jail”.