Gujarat UCC not uniform, says Owaisi, changes his earlier stance

Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi questioned the “uniformity” of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, 2026, which was passed in the Gujarat Assembly on March 24, stating that the Scheduled Tribes (ST) were exempted from it.

Speaking with media persons in Ahmedabad on Saturday, April 4, Owaisi sought to know if there was anybody who had seen the Justice Ranjana Desai report and what its findings were, based on which the Bill was drafted.

Owaisi observed that the Bill was brought in only in the wake of the upcoming local body elections in Gujarat.

He said the sections of the Hindu Marriage and Divorce Act and the Hindu Succession Act were being implemented for all the communities except STs through the UCC legislation, noting that the affected parties due to the legislation would be Muslims.

Pointing out that freedom of religion has been upheld in Articles 25, 26, 21 and 14 of the Constitution, Owaisi felt that UCC was violating all of those and was “unconstitutional.”

“There is no mention of ancestral property in Islam. But through this legislation, the Hindu Succession Act is being imposed on Muslims,” he said.

Owaisi’s earlier position on UCC

However, Owaisi’s statements contradict his position with regard to STs and succession, from his earlier statements in Darussalam, AIMIM’s headquarters in Hyderabad, a couple of years ago.

During a press conference in Darussalam, when the discussion of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) plans to introduce the UCC legislation had come up, Owaisi had questioned how the government could impose the provisions on the STs, as they have distinct culture and traditions when it came to marriage.

Talking about succession in Muslims, he had also pointed out that even in Muslims, there is something called “Meher,” which the bridegroom has to give to the bride, which could be money, property or any other security, without which a marriage wouldn’t have sanctity.

Owaisi had meant to inform that even in Islam, women and daughters are treated on par with men.