BJP MP introduces UCC Bill in RS amid protests; Oppn calls it Govt move to ‘test the waters in a dangerous game’

Union Minister and Leader of the House Piyush Goyal said he was “pained” to hear some of the comments made by the Opposition MPs against the introduction of the Bill, which, he said, was the “legitimate right of a member”. “Let this subject be debated in the House,” Goyal said.\

Eventually, acknowledging the demand of some Opposition MPs, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar called for division and the motion for introduction of the Bill was cleared with 63 votes in favour and 23 against it. Before that, one Opposition MP after another demanded its withdrawal.

Among the strongest voices against the Bill was MDMK leader Vaiko, who said the ruling BJP was attempting to implement the agenda of the RSS through the Bill. “We are leading towards the disintegration of the country. Minority people are terribly hurt,” he said.

The IUML’s Abdul Wahab said the Bill was against India’s interests. “It cannot be implemented in India with whatever majority or whatever force,” he said. MPs from the Left parties – five from CPI(M) and one from CPI – also opposed the Bill’s introduction, saying the country’s unity and diversity was at stake.

According to the list of business, the Bill seeks to “provide for the constitution of the National Inspection and Investigation Committee for preparation of Uniform Civil Code and its implementation throughout the territory of India and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”.

John Brittas of the CPI(M) said the 21st Law Commission had “concluded in its report that an UCC is neither necessary nor desirable”. He underlined that a piece of legislation should not be used to “create polarisation in society”.

“The treasury benches always harp on sabka saath, sabka vikas. But whatever they do is against the spirit of the slogan which they always try to raise,” he added. His party colleague A A Rahim accused the BJP of using UCC as a “political tool”.

The SP’s Ramgopal Yadav said the proposed legislation was against the principles enshrined in Article 26B and Article 29(1) of the Constitution, which allow people “to manage its own affairs in matters of religion” and the right to conserve distinct language, script or culture.

DMK’s Tiruchi Siva also said the Bill may open “Pandora’s box”. “The same Bill has been listed many times before and on request it was not introduced. Today also we did the same but we had a bitter experience of breach of trust,” he said.

Congress MPs L Hanumanthaiah, Jebi Mather Hisham, and Imran Pratapgarhi opposed the Bill. “In a democracy, any brute majority will be a dangerous thing. We have seen across the world extreme leftist and extreme rightists can become dangerous for a democracy,” Hanumanthaiah said.

The TMC’s Jawhar Sircar termed the Bill as “unconstitutional, unethical, anti-secular”. The bureaucrat-turned-politician alleged it was being introduced as a private member’s Bill by an “indulgent government to test the waters in a very dangerous game”.

Last July, replying to BJP’s Janardan Singh Sigriwal and Congress’s Adoor Prakash, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had told Lok Sabha: “There are some writ petitions pending in the Hon’ble Supreme Court… regarding UCC. Since the matter is sub-judice, no decision on implementation of UCC in the country has been taken as of now.”