UCC: Opposition claims govt desperate to continue polarisation agenda; BJP says Cong succumbing to ‘fundamentalists’

New Delhi, June 15

The Congress and other opposition parties Thursday attacked the Centre over the Law Commission’s move on the uniform civil code, calling it the government’s desperation for continuing with its agenda of polarisation and diversion from its glaring failures.

The ruling BJP hit back accusing them of “constantly sacrificing women rights, women empowerment and women issues” at the altars of vote bank politics and charged the Congress with succumbing to “fundamentalists”.

While the Janata Dal (United), an erstwhile partner of the BJP, said the UCC is not a “political instrumentality” to be hurriedly imposed, the TMC said the government was fanning divisive politics out of “desperation.” The BJP, however, asserted it was committed towards implementing the uniform civil code (UCC) in the country.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) said only those who are against women empowerment and national unity will oppose the move.

The Law Commission on Wednesday initiated a fresh consultation process on UCC by seeking views from the stakeholders, including public and recognised religious organisations, on the politically sensitive issue.

Reacting to the move, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said it is strange that the Law Commission is seeking a fresh reference when it acknowledges that its predecessor, the 21st Law Commission, had published a consultation paper on the subject in August 2018.

He said no reasons have been given by the Law Commission on why the subject is being revisited except for vague references to “the relevance and importance of the subject and also, various court orders”.

“This latest attempt represents the Modi government’s desperation for a legitimate justification of its continuing agenda of polarisation and diversion from its glaring failures,” he charged.

The BJP slammed the Congress over its remark, saying it has succumbed to pressure from the “fundamentalists” and is opposing the move for vote bank politics.

The BJP is committed towards the implementation of UCC, party national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla told PTI.

“However, it is unfortunate that it has now become a subject matter of vote bank politics by some people,” he said and noted that the Congress was in power in Goa when the UCC was retained in the state.

“This is something that the Congress should have adopted because it was Jawaharlal Nehru (the first prime minister) and the founding fathers (of the Constitution), many of whom were from the Congress, who had advocated for the UCC,” the BJP spokesperson said.

“The Law Commission is entitled to do so. One should not see politics into the issues of women empowerment. The UCC is a tool for empowerment of women. But for the Congress ‘ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon’ is a mere hollow slogan. They do not believe in it, or else they would have supported the UCC,” he said.

The Janata Dal (United) advocated attempts to build a consensus on the issue of the UCC and said all stakeholders, a reference to members of different religions and communities, must be taken into confidence.

Party spokesperson K C Tyagi cited Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s 2017 letter to the then Law Commission Chairperson B S Chauhan in which Kumar had said the UCC must be seen as a measure of reform for people’s welfare and not a “political instrumentality” to be hurriedly imposed against their wishes and without consultations.

Joining the tirade against the Centre on the Law Commission’s move, the TMC alleged that the Prime Minister Modi government is fanning divisive politics out of “desperation” ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls In a tweet, party spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien said the government has failed to deliver on its promise of creating new jobs and controlling the price rise.

“When you cannot deliver on jobs. When you cannot control price rise. When you rip the social fabric. When you fail to keep every promise made. All you can do, in your desperation, is to fan the flame with your deeply divisive politics before 2024. Uniform Civil Code,” the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader charged.

Taking strong exception to the Law Commission’s move, Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq said it will only spread hatred in the country.

“Lok Sabha elections are round the corner, elections are also to be held in some states. These people (BJP) have no (issues) to talk about. They cannot say that they have done any work as they have only put the country in the fire of hatred,” he told reporters.