VHP international president Alok Kumar
Lucknow: A day after home minister Amit Shah asserted that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) would be implemented in all 21 states governed by the BJP-led NDA by 2029, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has reiterated that the country would never be run by Sharia law but by a law which ensures uniform values enshrined in the Constitution.
VHP international president Alok Kumar said the measure should not be perceived as “anti-Muslim” even as it aims to ensure gender justice and smoothen succession rights. He said the debate over the proposed code had often acquired an “anti-Muslim” character although its stated objectives were broader, including gender justice and greater uniformity in matters relating to marriage, divorce, inheritance and succession.
UCC has remained one of the BJP’s core ideological issues, alongside the construction of the Ram Temple and the abrogation of Article 370. Earlier reporting noted: ‘Country’s soul is its pluralism’: Owaisi slams Amit Shah’s remarks on UCC in 21 NDA-ruled states before 2029 AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday criticised Union home minister Amit Shah’s announcement that BJP-led NDA governments in 21 states would introduce the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) before 2029, questioning whether the ruling alliance’s partners had an independent political voice.
Experts said that while the latter two issues have been accomplished during Modi govt, the UCC has increasingly emerged as the next major issue around which the party and affiliated organisations seek to build political and social consensus. This makes UCC considerably more complex than a straightforward exercise in replacing multiple personal laws with a single statute, experts said. Earlier reporting noted: In a post on X, Owaisi said NDA allies should prove that they were not merely “choti BJP”. Earlier reporting noted: He also cited the Law Commission appointed by the NDA government, saying it had concluded that the UCC was “neither necessary nor desirable”.
Opponents, however, have raised concerns over religious freedom, preservation of customary practices and the manner in which a uniform framework would interact with India’s constitutional protection of religious and cultural rights.
Kumar said that UCC should be enforced nationally much before 2029.
“It is curious to note that a section of society is against UCC as a whole, even though it never objects to any specific measure,” Kumar said, seeking to challenge the opposition to the legislation on the grounds of its possible implications for personal laws. “State govts having a strong majority are unlikely to face any problem in bringing in legislation for the same,” he asserted. Kumar said that a host of states have already pushed for the measure at the right time. “It is now time for others to follow suit,” he said.