Oppn claims govt desperate to continue polarisation agenda
New Delhi: 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.”
The Janata Dal (United), an erstwhile partner of the BJP, said the UCC is not a “political instrumentality” to be hurriedly imposed. 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 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 said. “However, it is unfortunate that it has now become a subject matter of vote bank politics by some people,” he said.
“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.
