The BJP minority morcha (front) has pulled up agendas to surpass the opinion-makers and intellectuals in the Muslim community to confer the advantages of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), mainly for the women in the community.
UCC has been a core agenda of the ruling party and some BJP-ruled states have vowed to explore ways of implementing it.
Jamal Siddiqui, head of the BJP minority morcha, said that UCC will see the light of day soon. “Just as Article 370 was abrogated without much opposition, UCC too will be implemented. Article 370 had lost most of its relevance years before it was annulled,” he said, adding that many Muslim personal law provisions which were archaic have already been done away with.
Triple talaq has been outlawed by law and there is a raging debate on wearing a hijab in certain institutions. UCC will specially benefit women from the minority society as it peels off patriarchal biases in personal laws regarding adoption, inheritance and marriage rights, according to the BJP.
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BJP Minority Morcha spokesperson Yasser Jilani told, “We intend to inform the elite Muslims and intellectuals that UCC will make adoption easy for childless couples.” “The inheritance rights will also include women and will be on the basis of secular laws. Thirdly, UCC will lead to women’s empowerment as it will stop the provision where a man can have four wives. Even as per Sharia, a man is required to treat all his wives equally and not discriminate. Women will get property rights.”
On June 14, the 22nd Law Commission asked religious groups and the public to share their views on UCC. Many believe that the BJP government will try to enforce UCC throughout the country before the 2024 general election to polarise the electorate. Article 44 of the Indian Constitution states that the country should have a UCC. Since it is part of Directive Principles of State Policy at present, UCC is not enforceable.
The BJP had declared openly during the assembly elections in Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Karnataka that it will implement UCC. Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Hind and All India Muslim Personal Law Board have opposed UCC and said it cannot be implemented in a diverse country like India.
Regressive remarks against women by Muslim clerics have flared the demand for UCC. Some clerics were of the view that girls from the minority community should not be sent to educational institutions that ban the hijab.
After triple talaq was made illegal, the BJP feels UCC will further help it to get support of women from the minority community.
The BJP minority morcha is currently engaged in the drive “Modi Mitra” to win over professionals such as doctors, engineers, lawyers as well as intellectuals and influential people within the Muslim community.
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