The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday extended its support to the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) but said that it should be implemented only after wider consultations with all religions.
Talking to a news agency, AAP leader Sandeep Pathak said that since Article 44 of the Constitution advocates for UCC, they believe it should be implemented.
“We support the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in principle as Article 44 also says that there should be UCC in the country. Therefore, there should be wide consultation with all religions, political parties and organizations and a consensus should be built,” Pathak said.
The Uniform Civil Code is a proposal in India to formulate and implement personal laws of citizens which apply to all citizens equally regardless of their religion, sex, gender and sexual orientation. Currently, the personal laws of various communities are governed by their religious scriptures.
The UCC comes under Article 44 of the Constitution, which lays down that the state shall endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code for the citizens throughout the territory of India.
Batting for the UCC, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the country cannot be run with “two laws” when the Constitution of India talks about equality for all. He asked how different rules could apply to different family members.
“Will a family function if there are two different sets of rules for people? Then how will a country run? Our Constitution too guarantees equal rights to all people,” PM Modi said in Bhopal while addressing party workers under the BJP’s ‘Mera Booth Sabse Majboot’ campaign.
The Prime Minister further said that the people are being instigated in the name of the Uniform Civil Code. He said that appeasement politics has left many people behind including the Pasmanda Muslims.
“Pasmanda Muslims have become a victim of politics. Some people are using the politics of appeasement to break the country. The BJP cadre should go and explain this to the Muslims and educate them so that they do not fall victim to such politics,” said Modi.
“If they were really supportive of Muslims the Muslim brothers would not be poor or deprived…The Supreme Court has also asked for the implementation of the UCC. But these people are hungry only for vote banks,” Modi said, accusing the Opposition in the country of employing vote-bank politics of appeasement.