The need for a united effort to resist the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) was the highlight of the Muslim Coordination Committee’s seminar held here on Wednesday, in which leaders from ideologically opposite parties such as the CPI(M), CPI, Congress, and the Indian Union Muslim league (IUML) and organisations like the Jamaat-e-Islami shared the dais for a common cause.
The committee is a conglomeration of Muslim organisations in Kerala, chaired by Panakkad Syed Sadik Ali Shihab Thangal, IUML State president.
Opening the event, Tamil Nadu Health Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Ma. Subramanian said envisioning one country, one people, and one law was nothing but an Illusion. The fundamental right of citizens to practise and profess a religion should not be curtailed. The UCC would seriously threaten personal laws which were rooted in diverse cultures.
He referred to a letter written by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to Rituraj Awasthi, chairperson of the 22nd Law Commission, which said the UCC would pose a serious threat and challenge the diverse social structure of Indian society. He said that the party running the Union government, which was acting against the unity in diversity, should be thrown out of power in the next Lok Sabha polls.
The Thangal, who presided over the event, said the UCC was just one of the proposals in the Directive Principles of the Indian Constitution. It should not be pitted against the fundamental religious rights of citizens. “Imposing the UCC will adversely affect the pluralist nature of our society. Pluralism and nationalism are complementary to each other in the country. Damaging one will have an impact on the other,” he said.
CPI(M) leader K.T. Kunhikannan said ideological differences apart, the Left parties would join hands with those who oppose proposals such as the UCC, which were aimed at religious polarisation. “Otherwise, history will term us narrow minded,” he added.
The other participants included Syed Jifri Muthukoya Thangal, president of the Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, T.P. Abdullakoya Madani of the Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen, V.T. Balram of the Congress, P. Gavas of the CPI, and leaders of Christian congregations.
