Chennai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has voiced opposition to the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) proposed by the BJP government at the Centre.
Speaking to the media at the party headquarters in Chennai Wednesday, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami said, “Our stand on the Uniform Civil Code remains the same as that expressed in the 2019 Election Manifesto. We have explained everything there briefly.”
In its 2019 election manifesto the party had stated that it would urge the Narendra Modi government at the Centre to not bring any amendments to the constitution for a Uniform Civil Code that will “adversely affect the religious rights of minorities of India”.
The Uniform Civil Code proposes that communities irrespective of religious affiliations be governed by the same set of personal laws on matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption, among others. At present, there are different personal laws for different religious communities.
The subject of Uniform Civil Code is covered under Article 44 of the Indian Constitution, which says the “State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India”.
The BJP in its election manifestos, including for the Karnataka assembly polls in May, has talked about the implementation of UCC.
During a BJP booth-level workers’s meeting in Bhopal last month, held under the ‘Mera Booth, Sabse Majboot [my both strongest]’ campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said, “Today people are being instigated in the name of UCC. How can the country be run on two laws? The Constitution also talks of equal rights. The Supreme Court has also asked to implement UCC.”
The Prime Minister had also accused opposition parties of playing vote-bank politics on the issue.
Also read: UCC can strengthen country, but BJP raising it to cover up its failures, says Mayawati
Opposition parties oppose UCC
Modi’s remarks brought the subject back into focus, sparking fresh debate on the issue, with political parties from across the country opposing the concept.
The UCC had come up for discussion in a parliamentary standing committee earlier this week, when it was opposed by the Congress and its ally, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu — the ruling party in Tamil Nadu — ThePrint had earlier reported.
The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), another Congress ally, had during the meeting demanded the Law Commission to submit its report on UCC for parties to peruse it before reaching a decision on the matter.
Earlier, the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi, while opposing UCC, had lashed out at PM Modi saying, “PM is not talking about Uniform Civil Code. He is talking about Hindu Civil Code”.
Owaisi had further added, “India’s PM is now talking about Uniform Civil Code. Are you going to snatch away pluralism, diversity in the name of Uniform Civil Code”
Opposition parties elsewhere in the country, for example the Shiromani Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party, too have reportedly either questioned the requirement of the law, or opposed it.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
Also read: ‘Will always toe party line,’ says Himachal minister Vikramaditya after remarks favouring UCC