Top legal minds of the Congress met on Saturday to discuss the Uniform Civil Code issue and it is learned that they have decided to advise the party leadership to take a nuanced stand on the matter and declare the party’s stand only after reading the draft bill in Congress. case the government presents this legislation to Parliament.
Senior Congress leaders P Chidambaram, Salman Khurshid, Abhishek Singhvi, Vivek Tankha, Manish Tewari and KTS Tulsi met and discussed the legal and social aspects of the UCC for over an hour and a half. The informal panel will give a report to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Sources said the leaders were of the view that the party should have a “nuanced” view on UCC as the issue is complex and layered. The BJP, according to leaders, would like the Congress to spell out a stand for or against the UCC, but the party will have to consider several aspects before taking a stand.
The Congress had earlier this month decided to wait for the BJP government to take the next step on the UCC and introduce a bill. He had refrained from “rushing in” with his opposition to the idea in the absence of a bill. Leaders who attended the meeting said the party opposed the idea of uniformity and saw the UCC as “an assault on diversity”.
They pointed out that reforms can be introduced in personal laws by amending individual laws. But there are aspects such as gender parity, which the party supports.
“We will support aspects such as equal inheritance. But we will oppose the imposition of uniformity. It all depends on the government’s intention. We have to see whether the government is sincere when it comes to reforming personal laws or whether it will introduce a bill to target some communities with an eye on the elections,” said a senior leader.
Asked how the Congress will take a nuanced position, one leader said: “We may support certain provisions…but overall we will oppose any attempt to impose uniformity as it goes against our pluralistic values and the idea of diversity”. The Congress has been maintaining that the talk of the UCC is a “diversion tactic by the government and an attempt at dog-whistle politics”. The party wants to avoid falling into the “BJP trap”. While the Center is yet to indicate when it will introduce a bill on UCC, the opposition camp is already divided on the issue, with the AAP and the Shiv Sena (UBT) supporting the idea in principle. The BSP has also said it is not opposed to the UCC, but has argued that it does not support the “way the BJP is trying to implement it”.
