Won’t accept UCC, will protest it with civil disobedience: Meeting chaired by Dehradun’s Shahar Qazi

Naeem Qureshi, president of Muslim Seva Sangathan, said another meeting has been called on the coming Sunday.

“It has been decided that on the coming Sunday, we will hold a meeting of all prominent members of the Muslim community to discuss our next course of action. We will also send a memorandum to the Law Commission, the Chief Justice of India, the Speaker of Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister, and other dignitaries, stating that they issue a direction, as they deem fit, to the Uttarakhand government to repeal this Bill,” Qureshi told The Indian Express.

“For the time being, we have decided that we will challenge the UCC Bill in the Supreme Court. This is because they are trying to push and impose the laws and faith of one particular religion,” he said.

The meeting on Thursday at Paltan Bazar Jama Masjid was attended by the Shahar Qazi, Imam Sangathan president Mufti Raees Qasami, and several other prominent members of the Muslim community.

At the meeting, a resolution was unanimously passed to not accept the law and to protest it with civil disobedience.

Shahar Qazi Maulana Mohammad Ahmad Qasami said they discussed the UCC Bill and its issues. “We have already said that we will not go against our Shariyat (Islamic law)… To discuss this in detail, we have called a meeting on Sunday,” he said.

Uttarakhand’s UCC Bill, which seeks to “govern and regulate the laws related to marriage and divorce, successions, live-in relationships, and matters related thereto”, was passed in the Assembly Wednesday following a two-day discussion. The Bill will now be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent, after which it will become law. The code, however, will not apply to members of Scheduled Tribes.