KOCHI: CPM politburo member Prakash Karat has said that the BJP is aiming to polarise Hindus and Muslims by bringing up a debate on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
He was speaking after inaugurating a seminar titled ‘Uniform Civil Code - RSS agenda for partition’ organised by the LDF in Kochi on Saturday.
“For the BJP, the UCC should remain a burning issue until the Lok Sabha election. Therefore, it is unlikely that a draft bill will come up before the next election. Oneness and equality are two things,” Karat said, adding that all religious groups should try to ensure equality.
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emotional speech in Bhopal on Muslim daughters was not for equality but a hoax attempt to make it appear that the Muslim community is not against the UCC.
“Nagaland cannot even hold local elections because the personal law does not allow the implementation of one-third reservation for women. This shows that the prime minister’s compassion towards Muslim daughters, not towards Naga daughters, is a fraud,” he added.
He alleged that the BJP is trying to enforce Manusmriti. “In the states of Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya, the Constitution provides protection to individual rights in recognition of cultural and social diversity. If they enforce a law, they enforce only Manusmriti,” Karat said. He also warned that if the uniform civil code is implemented in northeastern states, there will be major regional conflicts.