SGPC passes resolution against UCC: ‘BJP ploy to make India Hindu Rashtra’

On being asked it was planning to implement UCC in Himachal, which is predominantly Hindu, and whether the party has any plan to do so at national level, BJP national president JP Nadda had told news agency PTI said that the UCC is an important issue and “we have taken this issue state by state…we are implementing it through the state level”.

The resolution passed by the SGPC at its general house session read, “The central government’s plan to implement Uniform Civil Code throughout the country is strongly opposed. This plan is another step towards making the country a Hindu Rashtra. India is a multi-lingual and multi-religious country. People of different communities live here. Minorities, especially the Sikhs, have made special contribution to the freedom struggle and to save the country’s culture. But the minorities living here are being suppressed, and their religious and social concerns are being interfered with. The BJP government at the Centre is trying to impose RSS agenda on the country and the plan to implement UCC is also a part of it. The UCC is not in the interest of the country and it should not be implemented.”

The SGPC general house also passes resolutions regarding pilgrimage to the Sikh shrines in Pakistan. “The governments of both India and Pakistan should pay special attention to this issue. Train and bus service should be made available for pilgrims going to Pakistan. Besides Delhi, a visa centre should be opened at Amritsar to make things easy for pilgrims, and arrangements should be made to issue on-arrival visas at the border to the ‘sangat’ passing through the Attari-Wagah border. Issuance of special family visas for long stay should also be ensured.”

In another resolution, on the lines of the four jathas going to Pakistan every year on four occasions, it was demanded to include three more jathas – on the occasion of Jyoti Jyot Diwas of Guru Nanak Dev, Prakash Gurpurab (birth anniversary) of Guru Ramdas; and Shaheedi Saka of Nankana Sahib. “We are appealing to the government to abolish the condition of passport for pilgrims going to Gurdwara Sri Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan through Kartarpur Corridor and to simplify the registration process,” reads the resolution.