Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on July 2 said the party was not opposed to the idea of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) but did not endorse the way the BJP and its government “seek to implement it in the country”. It should be implemented through consensus and awareness, the BSP chief said.
Ms. Mayawati said in a statement: “Our party is not against the UCC, but we do not support the way the BJP and its government are trying to implement it in the country, where politics of narrow selfishness rather than ‘sarvjan hitaaye, sarvjan sukhaye [for good of everyone, for welfare of everyone]’, has taken centre stage which is not correct.” The former four-time Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister asked the BJP and the government led by the saffron party to focus its attention on problems such as poverty, unemployment, inflation and lack of basic needs like education and health and rise above “politics of narrow selfishness and religious bias”. “If the BJP rises above it [politics of narrow selfishness and religious bias], the BSP will endorse the issue, else, will oppose it,” she added.
Citing Article 44, the BSP supremo said, “the UCC is mentioned in the Constitution, but there is no provision of imposing it forcefully, for which awareness and general consent have been considered best. Not following this, but resorting to politics of narrow self-interest is not in the interest of the country, which is being done at present”.
The BSP president said that in a country like India, where people of different religions practice different kinds of customs, these things could not be overlooked. “If one law is applied to everyone in all matters, it will not weaken the country but strengthen it.”
