Uniform Civil Code: US body condemns Uttarakhand govt’s move

The Uttarakhand cabinet decided to form a committee of experts on the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code.

The Indian American Muslim Council on Friday unequivocally condemned the BJP-ruled Uttarakhand state’s decision to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

On Thursday, a day after being sworn in, the Uttarakhand cabinet led by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami decided to form a committee of experts on the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code in the state.

In a series of tweets, the IAMC discussed the pitfalls of the Uniform Civil Code and how it would adversely affect the minorities in India.

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“This is an alarming deviation from the current system, which has different laws for different faiths, including the Hindu Marriage Act, Indian Christian Marriages Act, and the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act. Muslim personal laws are based on religious texts and are not codified,” the council pointed out.

They argued that the implementation of the UCC is a violation of freedom of religion and an invasion in the private lives of citizens, particularly Muslims and Christians, who are already severely marginalized in India. Invoking the recent hijab ban supported by the Karnataka high court, they argued that the UCC will unfairly discriminate against Muslims under the guise of secularism.

“Under the BJP’s Hindu supremacist agenda, the UCC will neither liberate nor unite, but rather push a Hindu-centric idea of uniformity,” they said.

“UCC is one more step in the direction of turning India into a Hindu majoritarian state where minorities are relegated to second-class citizenship,” said Rasheed Ahmed, Executive Director of IAMC.

In the recent past, the IAMC has condemned other prominent instances of Islamophobia by the Indian state.

A statement issued by the IAMC on the recent hijab ban read, “The role of the Indian judiciary is not to interpret religious texts; nor is it qualified to pass judgment on the petitioners’ intentions for wearing the hijab. The role of the court is simply, to uphold the rights of the Indian people based upon the pluralistic and secular values inscribed in the Constitution.”

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