SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday challenged the BJP to bring the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill in Parliament if it has numbers and should not bring it through the back door via BJP states as the “whole country is not a BJP-ruled state”.
“It is the Parliament's job. If you have a number, bring it to the Parliament. Why are they doing it from different states?” Omar told reporters in Srinagar.
He was reacting to Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that UCC would be implemented in all 21 BJP-led NDA ruled states before 2029.
Questioning whether BJP had the backing of all its NDA allies for the proposed legislation, Omar said, “Not everyone agrees with this in their own NDA. There are reports that Janta Dal United has raised their hand and said that it will not be implemented in Bihar. If their own people are not ready for its implementation, how can they say that it should be implemented in the whole country”.
The (UCC) bill, he said, should not be brought from the back door but they should bring this bill to the Parliament and see if they have a number or not.
“Just like their own allies are not in favour of this, I don't think they will be able to pass this in the Parliament,” he said adding that is why they are taking this path.
Omar argued that the proposed legislation could not be described as “universal” if it was implemented only in states governed by the BJP or its allies.
“It is not universal if it doesn't apply to the whole country. The whole country is not a BJP ruled state. There are a number of states and territories that the BJP does not rule. Therefore, if you apply it only to BJP states, it is not universal,” Omar said in response to a question.
Omar said something that is of this nature should not be decided by individual states. “It has to be decided by the country as a whole. The country as a whole is represented not in the state but in Parliament.”
“Let legislation come to Parliament. So far, all the legislations that they talked about in the Parliament, whether it be ‘One Nation, One Election’ or reservation, they have not brought it to the Parliament and now this one they are also talking about bringing it to the states,” he said.
“Bring it to the Parliament and let's see if you can pass it,” added Omar.