LUCKNOW: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a pitch for the nationwide implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the All India Muslim Personal Law Board decided to oppose any move to enforce the proposal, which seeks to formulate and implement a set of common personal laws for all Indian citizens irrespective of their religious faith, caste or creed.
Convening an online meeting, attended by AIMPLB president Saifullah Rehmani, chairman of Islamic Centre of India and member of AIMPLB Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali, AIMPLB lawyers and others late on Tuesday night, the board decided to present its views more forcefully before the Law Commission.
At the meeting, the members finalised the documents to be submitted to the Law Commission in support of their point of view. Notably, the opinion of PM Modi put forth on Tuesday was in sync with the affidavit filed by the Union ministry of law in connection with the UCC in the Supreme Court a few months ago.
As per the affidavit submitted by the Centre, “citizens belonging to different religions and denominations following different property and matrimonial laws is an affront to the nation’s unity”.
Reacting to the PM’s viewpoint, Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali said, “AIMPLB will oppose the Uniform Civil Code tooth and nail. We are chalking out a strategy to counter the proposed move of the government by presenting our view in front of the law commission more powerfully. All prominent Muslim leaders of the country were present in the online meeting held on Tuesday.”
The prominent Muslim cleric and AIMPLB member added that as per the trend, for the past several years, politicians had been raising the issue when elections were round the corner.
“This time too, the issue has come up before the 2024 general elections,” he maintained. Maulana Khalid further said, “I have always said that the UCC is not only going to affect Muslims but also Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Jews, Parsis and other miniscule minorities living in the country. India is a country where language changes at every 100 km. So, how can we have the same set of rules for all communities. Every community has a different way of praying, performing rituals and conducting ceremonies like marriage. The freedom to practise one’s own faith and way of life is granted to everyone by the Constitution.”
However, the AIMPLB member denied that there was a connection between the meeting and PM Modi’s Tuesday speech as the meeting was pre-scheduled wherein members had to deliberate on the response to be given to the Law Commission’s public notice. “We will be submitting our feedback to the Law Commission in the first week of July,” said an AIMPLB executive committee member.
As per AIMPLB sources, the board members were of the view that the UCC was neither necessary nor did it benefit the country in any way.
“India is a multi-religious nation with multiple cultures, languages, rituals supporting its ethos of diversity. Religious freedom is enshrined as a fundamental right in the Constitution and the UCC interferes with this right as Muslim personal law is a part and parcel of our religious freedom. In any case, UCC in a manner already exists in the country in the form of the Special Marriage Act, the Inheritance Act etc as optional provisions,” said the Maulana.