It seems BJP has finally kicked off the movement around its much awaited promise, that is Uniform Civil Code. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday lashed out at the opposition parties for playing “vote bank politics” and said the people are being instigated in the name of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
Addressing party workers under the “Mera Booth Sabse Majboot” campaign in Bhopal, PM Modi said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided it would not adopt the path of appeasement and vote bank politics.
“Even the Supreme Court has advocated for the Uniform Civil Code, but those practising vote bank politics are opposing it. Even the Indian Constitution talks about uniform rights for the people of the country,” PM Modi said.
Furthermore, the prime minister said the government works for ‘santushtikaran’ (satisfaction), instead of ‘tushtikaran’ (appeasement).
PM Modi said, “Today we are witnessing how people are trying to provoke others in the name of a Uniform Civil Code. If there is one law for one family member and another for another family member in a household, can that family function smoothly? How can a country function with such dual systems? We must remember that the Indian Constitution also speaks of equal rights for citizens.”
PM blamed Opposition for creating division between the Society
“These people who accuse us… are the ones who create divisions between Hindus and Muslims,” he said, adding: “If they genuinely cared about the welfare of Muslims, Muslim brothers and sisters would not lag in education and employment, and they would not be forced to live a life of hardships. The Supreme Court is saying, bring a Uniform Civil Code, but people hungry for vote bank politics are the ones causing difficulties for our marginalized Muslim brothers and sisters.”
PM directly addressed the Muslim Community
PM Modi made this comments in response to a question by a UP-based booth worker, Rani Chaurasiya, who had asked Modi how to clear misconceptions about triple talaq and the UCC among the Muslim community.
On triple talaq, the PM said, “I think we need to study a little to understand that those who speak in favour of triple talaq, advocate for triple talaq, these vote-hungry individuals are causing great injustice to Muslim daughters.”
Modi said the “damage caused by triple talaq is not limited to daughters alone, its scope is even greater”.
“Sending a daughter to her marital home with many aspirations and then divorcing her by saying triple talaq after 8-10 years, what will happen to those parents whose daughter returns home? The brother, the father, all of them become so sorrowful and worried about the daughter. So, it is incorrect to say that triple talaq is an injustice only to daughters. The entire family gets destroyed because of it,” the PM said, adding that if triple talaq was related to Islam, a majority of Muslim countries would not have abolished it.
“I was in Egypt two days ago. Egypt has over 90 percent Sunni Muslim population. The practice of triple talaq was abolished there 80-90 years ago. If triple talaq was an essential part of Islam, why is it not present in Pakistan, Indonesia, Qatar, Jordan, Syria, Bangladesh and other Muslim-majority countries? Some people, by hanging the noose of triple talaq over Muslim daughters, always want to have the licence to oppress them… I know that’s why my Muslim sisters and daughters are standing with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Modi. Indian Muslim brothers and sisters also need to understand which political parties are ruining them for their own gains,” he said.
Pasmanda Muslims, he said, have been “subjected to such oppression, yet there has never been a discussion about it in the country”. “They still do not receive equal rights and are considered untouchables… However, BJP is working with the spirit of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’… When BJP workers visit Muslim brothers and sisters with these facts and arguments, they will explain it to them in a better way and dispel their misconceptions as well.”
UCC is BJP’s major poll promise
A Uniform Civil Code means having a common law for all citizens of the country that is not based on religion. After Ram Mandir construction and abrogation of Article 370, UCC is BJP’s third major poll promise.
Since assuming office in 2014, the Modi government has implemented two core agenda of the RSS – the abolition of Article 370 and the construction of the Ram Temple. The third – the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code – remains pending.
The prime minister’s statement comes a fortnight after the Law Commission of India sought views from stakeholders on the Uniform Civil Code, almost four years after a commission consultation paper had closed the chapter by calling UCC “neither necessary not desirable at this stage”.
a Uttarakhand government-appointed panel is also finalising its report on the UCC along with a draft bill which will be presented to the state government anytime soon.
The BJP has undertaken a special drive in 65 minority-dominated Lok Sabha constituencies across the country to reach out to the poorer sections within the community, especially the ones who have been beneficiaries of the central government’s social sector schemes.
Is UCC coming on 5th August 2023?
Well, since the PM Modi has made this open statement on UCC, the rumors’ are trending that Modi government can bring in this law on 5th August 2023, during the Monsoon session. This isn’t a coincidence, as Modi government has taken some credible steps on this date.
Prime Minister also termed August 5 as a date of achievements – abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, laying of foundation stone for Ram Temple in Ayodhya in 2020 was done on 5th August.
Last month, the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Uniform Civil Code (UCC) will be implemented in India and polygamy will come to an end very soon.
So, are we suppose to have the UCC on 5th August this year? Well, possibilities are very high.
