The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has divided both the Opposition and the Congress itself, just ahead of the parliamentary committee on law and justice meeting on July 3 to discuss UCC and Law Commission inputs on the same.
A copy of the agenda and the consultation paper of August 31, 2018, issued by the 21st Law Commission, is also being circulated for the members and has been accessed by News18. But the fissures within the Opposition and even more in the Congress stand exposed. Politically, this helps the BJP.
Congress leader Manish Tewari, for example, has been open about UCC, saying it’s not in sync with the idea of ‘One India’ and the country’s diversity. On the other hand, in an embarrassment for the party, Vikramaditya Singh — PWD minister in the Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh government — supported UCC but questioned the timing, accusing the BJP of polarising.
WHAT WILL THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE DECIDE ON?
The 21st Law Commission’s proposal paper of 2018, which has been circulated among the members of the committee, is the base on which the discussion is likely to take place. And herein lies the controversy as many contentious points make it difficult for Congress to make up its mind.
Officially, Congress has said it will take the call when the final bill comes. But when the Law Commission issued a notification for opinion, party leader Jairam Ramesh said: “No reasons are given for why the subject has been revisited except for the vague references to the importance of the subject and also to various court orders.”
The Grand Old Party has questioned the timing of the move. It has also referred to the same 21st Law Commission paper which had then said that UCC was neither necessary nor desirable at this stage.
A DIVIDED, CONFUSED CONGRESS
It is no secret that Congress has been peddling soft Hindutva post 2019. In fact, when it lost and fared poorly, the internal report said one of the main reasons was because it was seen as a minority appeasement party while the BJP had captured the Hindu narrative. Hence began the temple runs and Congress ensuring it doesn’t look like supporting the minority Muslims at the cost of Hindus — an example being the party’s vocal support to Ram Mandir.
But now, as some Muslim bodies express their opposition to UCC, the Congress is caught in a fix. Sources say some leaders like Digvijaya Singh are in a dilemma. Since he has positioned himself as the Hindutva face of the party post the Narmada Yatra, any strong opposition to the bill will be construed as pro-Muslim. On the other hand, Shashi Tharoor told News18: “This was an idea from Jawaharlal Nehru’s time. Maybe there are valid points in it but one must accept that not all of it can be applied in a diverse country like India.”
PM SETS CAT AMONG PIGEONS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Madhya Pradesh speech supporting the UCC, has put the Congress in a quandary. If the party opposes UCC, it runs the risk of being accused by the BJP of being anti-women empowerment. The fact is Triple Talaq had earned the BJP some goodwill among Muslim women which was reflected in the UP state results. BJP will then attack the pro-women slant of Congress campaign in the upcoming state elections over this.
The Congress opposition will also be construed by BJP as the party being anti-Hindu. The fact that many of its leaders are caught in a dilemma due to their constituency gives that handle to the BJP. For the BJP, it’s a chance to expose the Congress duplicity on the soft Hindutva narrative it wants to push.
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