The oldest Muslim body in the country, Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, has strongly opposed the Uttarakhand government’s move to usher in the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), calling it “discriminatory in nature” and “an attempt to curtail religious freedom of the citizens”.
“The Uniform Civil Code has been tabled in the Uttarakhand Assembly today and the Scheduled Tribes have been exempted from the new law under sub-section 342 of Chapter 25 of Article 366 of the Constitution of India. It has been argued that their rights are protected under Article 21 of the Constitution. What about Muslims and the rights given to the minorities,” asked Jamiat president Arshad Madani. “If the Scheduled Tribes can be kept apart from this law under one section of the Constitution, then why can’t religious freedom be given to us under Sections 25 and 26 of the Constitution, recognising the fundamental rights of citizens. If it is actually a uniform civil code, then why this distinction between citizens?” he added
