Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) “support” to the Uniform Civil Code for all Indians may sound trouble for the ruling party in Punjab — where the Sikhs account for nearly 60 percent of the state’s total population.
Hours after AAP’s national general secretary and party’s Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Sandeep Pathak declared that his party extends “in principle” support to the UCC and wanted to Government to hold consultations to build consensus on the same, the Shiromani Akali Dal on Wednesday lashed out at the ruling party in Punjab saying that it had exposed AAP’s “anti-minorities’ face”.
Notably, a day before, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a BJP booth-level event in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, had said that the country cannot have separate laws for its people and that the Constitution obligates the State to secure a UCC for its citizens.
Criticizing AAP for extending its support to the UCC, senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said: “AAP and its convener Arvind Kejriwal promised badlav in Punjab, but are now openly supporting an issue which will cause strife in civil society.”
Cheema said that the preparation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and its implementation throughout the country would have an adverse impact on minority and tribal communities. “India has uniform criminal laws, and personal laws for different communities were made to take everyone along,” he said, adding that Akali Dal has always opposed the preparation of a UCC for the entire country.
AAP’s support to the UCC came a year after the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), also known as Sikhs’ mini parliament, had made clear its stand on the UCC saying that it was not in the interest of the country.
SGPC, in a statement, had stated that UCC “is another step towards making the country a Hindu Rashtra. The BJP government at the Centre is trying to impose RSS agenda on the country and the plan to implement UCC is also a part of it”.
SGPC controls gurdwaras in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, and is currently dominated by SAD.
“The 21st Law Commission had held wide-ranging consultations on the Uniform Civil Code, but decided that it was not possible. The recommendation was made after due diligence after seeking feedback from the people…When the Law Commission says that this is not possible, that it will create unrest and tension, and law and order situation, why do you want to implement it by force?” asked SAD’s senior leader Cheema, while asserting that there was no need to look at this issue afresh by constituting the 22nd Commission.
In 2018, the 21st Law Commission had said that a Uniform Civil Code is “neither necessary nor desirable at this stage”. Now, the 22nd Law Commission has started looking afresh at the subject and will be holding consultations with the stakeholders.
“SAD has always opposed preparation of UCC for the entire country and the party would submit its reservations on this issue to the 22nd Law Commission as well as in the Parliament,” said Cheema.
Cheema, a former Minister, said that SAD believed that civil laws in the country were influenced by faith, belief, caste and customs and were different for different religions. “These should be retained in the interest of safeguarding the social fabric as well as the concept of unity in diversity,” he added.
“We must take into account the fact that the Constitution makers did not give UCC the status of fundamental rights. It was kept in the concurrent list and is part of the Directive Principles of State Policy. Changing this status is not desirable as it will cause friction in society. Besides minority communities and tribal societies, who have their own personal laws, will be most affected,” he said, adding that in case, “any particular personal law is discriminatory, it could be amended but forming a UCC for the entire country is not advisable”.
Calling for wider consultation on the issue, Cheema said that this should have been done before introducing a private member bill in this regard in the Rajya Sabha.
