Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann differs from his party: Why tamper with faiths
AAP said Mann's statement was not contrary to the party line. “The CM has reiterated the party’s stand. He has raised a question on how they are going to implement it. He has advocated that all stakeholders should be taken into confidence,” said a party leader.
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Meanwhile, Mann also urged the Congress party to support the AAP against the Central Government’s ordinance to control services in Delhi. Breaking away from his party’s stand on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), on which the AAP has extended “in principle support”, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said every religion has its own culture and customs, and questioned the need to “tamper” with faiths.
“Our country is like a bouquet which has flowers of every colour. Sikhs have four laavan, after death we have bhog. The Hindu Marriage Act provides for seven pheras… Sikhs say Anand Karaj (wedding ceremony) should be done before noon. They (Hindus) have mahurat for pheras around midnight. Tribals have different rituals, Jains have different ones. Why do you want a bouquet to be of the same colour? They should talk to everyone and work towards a consensus,” said Mann, responding to a question on what would be his reaction if the Anand Marriage Act was kept out of the UCC.
“I do not know why they tamper with (faiths) like this… It is the BJP’s agenda – it wants to divide during elections. AAP is a secular party, we want all to exist together,” he said. “They say they are doing it as per the Constitution. What does the Constitution say? The Constitution says if there is social equality, then there can be UCC. But are we all equal socially? There are so many who do not get time to get educated, get a job. It is an era of infrastructure, information technology and artificial intelligence,” said Mann.
Last week, AAP general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak had said that his party supports the UCC “in principle”. “We support the UCC in principle. Article 44 also says there should be UCC in the country. But…there should be wider consultation with all religious leaders, political parties and organisations, and a consensus should be built. Some decisions cannot be reversed, some matters are fundamental to the nation. Authoritarian decisions cannot be taken,” he had said.
AAP said Mann’s statement was not contrary to the party line. “The CM has reiterated the party’s stand. He has raised a question on how they are going to implement it. He has advocated that all stakeholders should be taken into confidence,” said a party leader.
Following Pathak’s statement, Mann had faced questions from the Opposition in Punjab. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which opposed the UCC, had asked Mann to clear his stand on the issue. “It is clear that the AAP high command has taken a decision to support the implementation of UCC in the country without taking its Punjab unit, chief minister, or even the Sikh community into confidence.
This shows the amount of respect the AAP high command has for its chief minister in Punjab as well as for the religious entities in the state who were not consulted before the party extended its support to UCC,” SAD spokesperson Dr Daljit Singh Cheema had said.
On Tuesday too, the SAD asked Mann to get his party to clear its stand, saying this was necessary to end the doublespeak in the AAP. “It is shocking that AAP wants to vote in favour of UCC in Rajya Sabha even as Mann is befooling Punjabis by stating that the party is against it in Punjab,” Cheema said.
“Pathak articulated the party’s stand at the national level by asserting that AAP was in favour of UCC in principle. This means the party is gearing up to vote in favour of UCC once it is taken up for approval in Rajya Sabha. The Punjab CM’s statement against UCC has no meaning in this context,” he said.
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