A Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) leadership meeting placed the Centre’s move to draft a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Manipur violence against minorities, Communist Party of India (Marxist)‘s [CPI(M)] ‘subversion’ of the police to stifle dissent and witch-hunt Opposition leaders, the State government’s alleged politicisation of the higher education sector and the pending backlog of payments to paddy farmers on the ballot ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
KPCC president K. Sudhakaran on Thursday sought to indict the CPI(M) for playing into the hands of the BJP’s gambit to divide voters into religious lines by ratcheting up the UCC issue.
In contrast, Mr. Sudhakaran said the Congress would not sow divisiveness by launching anti-UCC street agitations. Instead, it would organise a mass campaign to celebrate and spotlight the country’s diversity.
Mr. Sudhakaran said the BJP had often re-ignited the socially explosive debate on the eve of elections to rally the Hindu right. By playing the divisive card, the BJP aspired to divert public attention from the yawning rich-poor divide, corporate corruption, cost of living crisis, attacks on minorities, stifling of dissent and unemployment.
Mr. Sudhakaran said the Law Commission appointed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had argued in 2018 against drafting a UCC. The Congress had endorsed the Law Commission’s position.
In contrast, in the aftermath of the Shah Bano case in 1985, E.M.S. Namboodiripad railed against the Shariat and urged the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) to campaign for UCC. Mr. Sudhakaran said CPI(M) leaders, including P. Sathidevi, had often argued for a UCC.
He said Rajiv Gandhi had, through legislation, protected the personal laws of minorities in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano case. The CPI(M)‘s sudden affinity for protecting minority rights was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Mr. Sudhakaran said the Congress would march to police stations to protest law enforcement’s trespasses on journalistic freedom. He accused the CPI(M) of subverting the police to trap Opposition leaders in police cases.
The KPCC would organise meetings to express solidarity with the families displaced by the Manipur violence. He said the BJP-sponsored violence overwhelmingly targeted Christians. Miscreants destroyed over 500 churches.
