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regular-article-logo Wednesday, 18 December 2024

Code of polarisation: Amit Shah eyes UCC state route, slams Muslim Personal Law

Shah said the Directive Principles of State Policy provides for a UCC but the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, had introduced a Muslim Personal Law instead

Basant Kumar Mohanty New Delhi Published 18.12.24, 05:50 AM
Amit Shah speaks during the Constitution debate in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Amit Shah speaks during the Constitution debate in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. (PTI picture)

Home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday indicated that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) would be implemented in BJP-ruled states through state laws, instead of a central law, after scrutiny of the feedback received on the model law implemented in Uttarakhand.

He made the assertion in the Rajya Sabha while replying to the two-day debate on the Constitution.

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As with most BJP interventions during the discussions on the Constitution, the Congress was mostly at the receiving end. Shah said the Directive Principles of State Policy provides for a UCC but the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, had introduced a Muslim Personal Law instead.

“I want to ask the Congress party if there should be one law for people of all religions or not. Are you supporting the Muslim Personal Law?” Shah said, adding that the Nehru government had also brought a Hindu Code Bill which had no relation with the Hindu practices mentioned in the scriptures.

“The Muslim Personal Law was brought. You are saying you have no objection to personal laws. Then implement full Sharia. Why are criminal cases not dealt with under the Sharia system? Will you chop off hands for theft or kill someone for anti-national activities? If personal law is applicable for marriage and inheritance, why not for dealing with criminal cases? If you wanted to give them (the personal law to Muslims), you should have given them in full. The Muslim Personal Law is the starting point of appeasement in this country,” Shah asserted.

Of the view that the Muslim Personal Law is a violation of Article 14 (right to equality) and Article 15 (that bars discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex and place of birth), the home minister said even Babasaheb Ambedkar and socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia were opposed to it. Shah said there had been 11 occasions since 1973 when states had approached the Supreme Court for a UCC.

Congress member Digvijaya Singh asked what prevented the government from bringing the UCC. Shah said a model law had been enacted in Uttarakhand already. “Our working style is democratic. Uttarakhand has enacted it as a model law. It is a law that will bring huge changes in social life. It will go for judicial scrutiny. There will be debate in various fora. Religious leaders will discuss. Some suggestions will come. Then we will accept it. After that the BJP will implement the UCC in every state,” the minister said.

The BJP is in power in 20 of India’s 28 states, either on its own or in alliance with other parties. Bringing the law through the state route and not in Parliament could reduce the scope of protests and also bypass possible objections of allies.

Shah claimed that the Congress’s clamour for removing the 50 per cent ceiling on reservation was aimed at giving quotas to Muslims, adding that the BJP would oppose this tooth and nail. “As long as there is one member of the BJP in either House of Parliament, religion-based reservation will not happen,” Shah said.

While the Congress has also been pressing for a caste census — the demand was raised during the discussion on the Constitution, too, in both Houses to mark the 75th anniversary of its adoption — Shah avoided touching on the contentious issue. Instead, he dwelt on religion-based quotas and said the Constitution does not provide for reservation based on religion. He claimed that two Congress-ruled states had offered reservation based on religion, drawing a rebuttal from Congress member Jairam Ramesh.

In fact, people from all religions are provided reservation benefits meant for Other Backward Classes if their community features on the OBC list. Several Muslim communities are listed under the OBC category. States like Andhra Pradesh, when the Congress’s Y.S.R. Reddy was chief minister, had notified a 4.5 per cent sub-quota for minorities within the 27 per cent overall OBC reservation to ensure that minorities get their due share. It was struck down by the high court in 2012.

Shah took swipes galore at the Congress’s first family in general and leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, in particular without naming him. Referring to Rahul drawing attention to Savarakar’s comment that “there is nothing Indian about our Constitution”, Shah said Savarkar was a great freedom fighter and patriot. He invoked former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who had described Savarkar as a “great revolutionary”.

Shah also questioned the latest trend of waving the Constitution and “spreading fear” that it will be changed, referring clearly to the Lok Sabha poll campaign of the Congress that bruised the BJP electorally. He alleged that in Maharashtra, at least one copy of the pocket edition of the Constitution distributed by the Congress was full of blank pages.

On allegations of EVM tampering, Shah questioned how the Opposition won in Jharkhand if such malpractices had indeed taken place. He said the Indira Gandhi government had ceded the Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka without bringing any amendment to Article 1 of the Constitution. The amendment has not been brought till today.

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