Uniform Civil Code to be implemented soon in U’khand: CM Dhami; Cong calls it ‘DCC — Dividing Civil Code’

NEW DELHI: Uttarakhand will “soon” implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), state chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced on Friday amid a raging debate over the issue with Congress leader Meem Afzal calling it “DCC--Dividing Civil Code” and the BJP condemning the attitude of opposition parties objecting to its implementation.

Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Prakash Javadekar asserted that the UCC was not a religious issue but a matter of equal rights, justice and dignity for women, while Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the “electoral agenda” of the BJP is behind raking up the issue and urged the Central government to withdraw the move to impose it.

Dhami’s announcement about the implementation of the UCC in his state came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong push at a BJP event in Bhopal for its implementation.

Earlier, an expert committee, set up by the Uttarakhand government to examine the various existing laws regulating personal civil matters of the residents of the state and to prepare draft law or laws or suggest changes in existing laws dealing with marriage, divorce and succession among others, said the draft of the proposed UCC was ready.

“As per the promise made to the people of the state, today on June 30, the committee formed to prepare the draft of the Uniform Civil Code has completed its work. Soon #UniformCivilCode will be implemented in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. Jai Hind, Jai Uttarakhand!” Dhami tweeted.

Stepping up the attack against the Central government, Congress leader Meem Afzal said, “This is not UCC, this is DCC-Dividing Civil Code. UCC is not the agenda, rather the agenda is to divide the people of the country.”

In a statement, Vijayan, who is also a senior leader of the CPI(M), said the Centre’s move can only be seen as a plan to implement the “majority communal agenda of ‘one nation, one culture’ by wiping out the cultural diversity of the country”.

Reacting strongly, Javadekar condemned the attitude of opposition parties objecting to its implementation.

Addressing reporters at the BJP headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, he said many Muslim-dominated nations are following the practice of following a common civil code and it is “so natural throughout the world”. Indonesia, Sudan, Turkey, Bangladesh and several other countries have the common civil code.