UCC brutal attempt to impose majority customs; will hold protests: Gujarat Muslim Hit Rakshak Samiti

Addressing media in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, Wasif Hussain Sheikh, convener of the Gujarat Muslim Hit Rakshak Samiti, said, “The UCC committee formed by the Gujarat government has invited objections and suggestions from citizens on the proposed UCC. However, the very idea of a UCC poses a serious threat to the protection of fundamental rights, especially religion, culture and personal laws, as enshrined in the Indian Constitution. The UCC, in its purported imposition of equality, ignores religious and cultural diversity and violates the constitutional guarantee of religious and cultural autonomy.”

He further said, “It still gives concessions to the Scheduled Tribes and Adivasis, then how can it be called a uniform code? We believe that the state government is trying to forcefully impose the customs of the majority society on Muslims instead of (letting them follow) their own marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption laws.”

Representatives of the samiti, including Gujarat High Court advocate Taher Hakim, Jamiat Ulema General Secretary Professor Nisar Ansari, Bar Council member Gulab Khan Pathan, Jamaat-e-Islami city president Iqbal Ahmed Mirza, and Advocate Iqbal Sheikh, while addressing the media, said they have an objection to the committee “because only people with links to the RSS have been selected in it”.

The samiti representatives stated, “The fact that the members of the committee have links with the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) is no longer hidden from anyone. Then, how can we believe that Muslims will get justice? Among the Muslims who were heard by the UCC committee in Gujarat was one person against whom four police cases have been registered. We believe that he was called because he is pro-government.”

The samiti members applauded “the way Muslims across the state expressed their protest by wearing black bands on the day of Eid.”